Petrova
by squaredplanet
Summary: Post 4x22. Alternate S5. When the secrets of the Petrova line come to sudden light, the lines between enemies and friends begin to blur and history begins to unfold the truth. "You're another one of them?" The corners of her lips lifted as she stared the young Salvatore in the eyes. Oh, she wasn't just any other one of them, she was the original.
1. Graduation

**Chapter One: Graduation Part 1**

**A/N: **Hey there. So I don't know about you, but I was kind of disappointed in that finale. I mean season four in general was just kind of "meh" altogether. And no, not because I'm a stelena fan, but just because it had a lot of potential and they really didn't go about it the right way. And that's not to say I can do any better. Okay I'm starting to ramble

Thought I'd alter some things about the big bang ending of season four. Btw, I cant promise anything ginormous in the romantics department. My muse is solely fueled on plot rn and hopefully some character developments. I don't know, I just thought that finale could've been better, especially the big reveal at the end.

Anywhoo, I'm trying this out. If you liked the finale I'm not sure if you'll like this. Some aspects are alike with the show for the first two chapters but then it's AU from there.

* * *

_It was dark. _

_Elena Gilbert blinked, squinting through the mass of black before her and coming up with nothing. She could see no shadows, nor any semblance of any light. Where was she? What happened? And why did she feel so odd? Like she wasn't herself? She grunted as she felt something rise inside her chest and grip her heart—fear, though it felt a lot like anticipation. An excitement she found odd, because not only could she not move but she felt as if she couldn't breathe either. As a vampire she didn't need to breathe but she could feel the lack of it like she did need it. The only difference now was how stationary she was. How still. And trapped. _

_But despite feeling surrounded, the feeling in her heart swelled and she felt… she felt a puzzling sense of victory as she heard the faintest of cracks. Like bone or wood, or did that sound more like concrete? _

"Elena,"_ a faint voice called in the distance, though not enough to turn her attention._

_Slowly, she heard the cracks move, much louder than the voice. She felt them splitting as whatever was incasing her began to break. Rigidly her right arm broke free of its restraints, followed by a leg and then her chest. Light filtered in as the mask over face also shed away. She reached out, her body poised to get up as the light engulfed her eyes._

"Elena!"

Her eyes shot open and Jeremy quickly came into view. He knelt in front of her, concern written all over his face.

"Are you okay?"

Elena looked around, morning birds chirped in the distance and the colouring of the sun rising shone in the sky. And they were in a cemetery, "What happened?"

"We were talking and I'm pretty sure we both fell asleep," he got to his feet and helped his sister up as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"No I meant…," Elena stumbled over her words, holding his arms to make sure he was tangible, "I mean not that I want you gone but…"

"I'm still here," Jeremy finished. He had been wondering the same thing, and he shrugged, "Did you have a nightmare?"

The vampire blinked, did she? It was odd, feeling trapped, and somehow it wasn't unfamiliar. She shook her head, gazing towards Jeremy. Everyone had gone home hours ago, and she and Jeremy had stayed behind near their parent's graves, talking and catching up. And despite the next day having come already her brother was still there and he looked concerned, "It was just a dream. I'm fine, Jere."

He nodded and gave her a small smile, "Ric was here, I didn't want to wake you but he said he'd come back with some food."

The corners of her lips lifted into a smile and she hugged her brother, "I missed you."

"I missed you too," Jeremy chuckled, having heard that phrase at least twenty times already.

A sudden buzzing in her pocket prompted Elena to pull away from her brother's warmth. She pulled out her phone and put it to her ear, "Hey, Caroline."

"_Hey, Elena. I've been calling you!"_ Caroline said, she sounded somewhat frantic.

"Uh, sorry, I fell asleep."

"_Oh nevermind that. Just a heads up, I spoke to Bonnie and she says that she can't bring up the veil without the full moon."_

"So we're going to have an active expression triangle until tonight?"

"_Apparently. Watch out for anyone dead looking to kill you,"_ she half joked, _"but other than that you better come to grad, okay?"_

Elena's brows rose. She actually hadn't thought of graduation at all, what with everything that was happening. Caroline knew better than to assume she remembered the non-hectic part of her life, and she was thankful for her friend, "Okay."

"_Good, I'll see you later,"_ and Caroline hung up. Even after everything that she did without her humanity, Caroline was still acting like herself. As if nothing happened. She hadn't really talked to her blonde friend since she got her switch flipped right side up. Elena felt guilty that the first time they spoke, without her vendetta fueled emotions, Caroline didn't seem the least bit mad. Even after the horrible way she completely dismissed her, and her much needed apology, at the Grill the day before. Elena planned the next time she could, she would sit her down and apologize.

"What was that about?" Jeremy sat on one of the concrete benches, patting the seat next to him so she would sit.

"That was Caroline. The veil won't be put back up till tonight."

"I'll be here for your grad," he smiled.

Elena wrinkled her nose and smacked his arm, "Since when did you get all sentimental?"

"What? I've _always_ been sentimental," Jeremy laughed and she shook her head.

"Well I never thought I'd see this again," they turned to see Alaric coming towards them, a paper bag of fast food take-out in his hand.

"Ric," Elena gave up her seat and sat across Jeremy. She watched as Alaric pulled out what he'd bought, and gave him a skeptic look, "Burgers and fries for breakfast?"

"Hey, don't diss the food. I actually miss this," he bit into his burger and Jeremy nodded, mumbling his agreement. With another shake of her head, Elena laughed.

"Well," Alaric wiped his mouth, swallowing, "there it is. That smile."

Elena smiled as her eyes began to water. She missed this. She really did. A giant part of her was happy, but something told her she didn't deserve any of it. Not after everything she had done.

"Hey, no tears," Jeremy said, "If Caroline is right, we only have till tonight."

She nodded, sucking in a breath just as her phone vibrated once more. Wiping away nonexistent tears, Elena reached for her phone and looked at the screen, "It's the Grill. It must be Matt."

She got to her feet, "Hey, you went AWOL this morning. What happened?"

"_Hello, Elena," _her brows knitted together at the voice on the other side, _"It's your old dead friend Conner here. You remember me?"_

Elena froze, "Where's Matt? What do you want?"

"_Hey, relax. I want what I always wanted. Silas and the cure. Where are they?"_

"The cure?"

"_Don't play dumb with me. I know you and you're friends have it. And if you give it to me, I'm sure I can promise not to hurt Matt, or you know, any of these loving relatives here for graduation."_

Alaric was already standing and he caught Elena's eyes, gesturing his departure, having heard everything.

"Look, I don't know where the cure is, but I can get it. Just don't hurt anyone," she shook her head. She had never even the seen the cure yet, let alone know who currently had it.

"_Good, that's what I like to hear," _Connor hung up before she could say anything else.

Elena took a deep breath, and Jeremy raised his brows.

"Who was that?"

"Connor, he's at the Grill and he's threatening the life of everyone there unless we get him the cure and Silas."

"Damon has Silas, right?" Jeremy asked and she confirmed with a nod, "What are we going to do?"

For a moment, Elena stared at her brother trying to brainstorm a quick plan, and she pushed away the nostalgia at having him around again at times like this, "Okay, first let's get out of here."

Jeremy nodded and the siblings headed out of the cemetery and to Elena's car.

* * *

A persistent knock on the front door of the Salvatore boarding house had Damon speed walking towards it.

"I'm coming, I'm coming. Just calm down!" he shouted, and mumbled to himself, "Not like its unlocked or anything."

He swung the door open and his glare quickly dropped into a confused frown, "Vaughn?" and before he could do anything the hunter aimed and fired onto his shoulder.

"Ugh!" he staggered back, feeling something from the bullet seep into him. Grabbing Damon by the shoulders Vaughn stepped in, pushing the vampire back into the living room. Over the other man's shoulder Damon watched as at least six others followed behind the hunter. He pushed Vaughn away just as the back of his legs hit a couch and he fell, "Whoa whoa whoa, who're all of you?"

"Witches," Vaughn answered almost absentmindedly and surveyed the room.

"This isn't a party," Damon eyed the seven intruders, his hand coming to his bleeding shoulder, "Get out of my house."

Smiling, Vaughn stepped towards the vampire, towering over him, "I don't quite think you're in the position to make demands. Now, where is it?"

"Where's what?" Damon brows furrowed, hell, he couldn't read thoughts.

"The cure. These witches are accompanying me to track it down. Now where is it."

Damon scoffed and fingered his wound, clenching his teeth as he pulled out the bullet. He sat back when it was out and he shook his head, "How would I know? It was taken from us by a conniving little bitch."

"Don't lie to me. I've been on the other side of the veil looking in. We know you have it and none of us are leaving till you give it us."

Damon raised his brows and shook his head. Irritated, Vaughn lifted his gun again.

"Aye, don't make me shoot you again. I don't have to remind you that I actually enjoy torturing you lot."

"Hey, man. I didn't even kill you, okay."

"Still not an answer, Damon," he fired again, this time aiming for his leg.

"Argh!" Damon's hands flew to his right thigh just as Vaughn was tackled to the ground by Stefan, who wrenched out his heart. On the other side of the room a witch collapsed with her neck snapped, and Damon watched as Lexi moved on to another witch. Ignoring his still bleeding knee, Damon sped towards the witch directly across from the couch he sat on, gripping both his hands around her neck before a sharp pain broke through his skull.

Clenching his teeth, he dropped to his knees with his hands on his head. He managed to open his eyes enough to see Lexi lying on the floor in the foyer with her neck at an odd angle and Stefan clutching his own temples. Vaughn lay immobile beside his brother. The three remaining witches towered over them and soon enough everything went black.

* * *

Matt Donovan took another deep breath and let it out in one big puff. He watched Rebekah, who stood between him and her very much dead but alive ex, Alexander. They were at a wrecking yard, the only one in Mystic Falls and the hunter was rummaging Connor's old RV; lining up the many guns and weapons he could find.

"There is nothing we can do for you, Alexander. _Please,_ let us go," Rebekah begged.

"You're right," Alexander stopped in his tracks, "But I'm not holding you here. Although, I'm sure that exploding contraption will have a hard time parting with your handsome friend intact."

After they had been ambushed by the living dead when all the lights came back, Matt and Rebekah had a hard time trying to escape them. Even as an Original, Matt could tell Rebekah couldn't take the risk of killing any of the three without enacting the Hunter's Curse. Did that still matter if they were already dead? Either way they managed to capture the two of them unconscious, and once he woke up, Matt had been placed on the beeping stand. Connor and the other hunter named Vaughn left soon after.

That had to at least have been an hour ago.

They were sitting ducks and Matt had no idea what they had planned for them. Rebekah was right, they had nothing to offer these hunters and if it was a bait they needed they weren't doing too well, seeing as he and Rebekah were left with the technologically impaired guy who could accidentally blow his bait any second.

Matt didn't quite understand one thing though, why hadn't Rebekah left already? There was literally nothing standing in her way.

"Just go, Rebekah, I'll be fine," he urged, glancing down at the beeping platform.

"I'm not leaving you," she replied, turning back to Alexander. They had already established that she couldn't just grab him and run. There were explosives everywhere and Matt wouldn't survive it. They were at a stalemate and Rebekah couldn't think of anything other than throwing words at the clearly passive hunter.

Alexander shook a bottle of clear liquid and smiled, "Venom syphoned from a werewolf. Impressive isn't it?"

"What do you want from us?"

"To fulfill my destiny. We want Silas and the cure, and we know your friends have both," Alexander replied, and sat on the steps of the RV.

"How can you know that Silas isn't roaming around? He was set free! We don't have him!" Rebekah reasoned. She hadn't seen Silas since the island, and the last time she heard anything about him he had been haunting a lot of people for the veil or whatever his goal was.

Alexander chuckled, shaking his head and fingering the gun he held. He didn't bother to answer her and Rebekah sighed, frustrated. Turning to Matt she eyed the wires on the pavement, the light blinking in more than a few cars.

"Rebekah, you should go," Matt urged once more.

"You should listen to him, sweet Rebekah. I'm sure you wouldn't be able to take it, if he dies while you valiantly tried to rescue him from the inevitable," Alexander taunted, smirking.

Matt watched as her shoulders sagged at his words and he couldn't help but turn her attention away, saying, "Don't listen to him, Rebekah. Think of something else. Like… graduation. Do you have any plans? For college maybe? Travel? Just because I'll never get out of this town doesn't mean you shouldn't either."

Rebekah blinked, looking to Matt's feet. Did he really think they were doomed? That amidst all the supernatural happenings he had already endured that he would not survive this one? Meeting his eyes she carefully decided on her next words, "It's just been settled. I'm going to show you life as you've only dreamt it. We'll start in Italy, and go on to Paris, China even. I'll show you the Northern Lights in the spring time and the Simatai Gorge from on top the Great Wall, every inch of the Louvre."

"Paris, China, the Northern Lights. Sounds good to me," Matt smiled, he knew she was trying to make him feel better and he couldn't tell if it was helping or just reminding him what he might never get to see, "Sounds like a date."

"We'll see it all when we're done here because we can. We're alive," she turned to Alexander whose smile was easily turning into a frown, "We're not going to be stuck as ghost in misery on the other side."

"Alright, you're done here," he stood, throwing the knife with precision towards Matt's head.

At the last second Rebekah caught it, pushing at Matt who grabbed onto her for balance. Turning, she threw the knife away and held onto Matt to support him, "I've got you."

Grateful he smiled at her, and a sigh of relief escaping his lips.

* * *

Elena tossed her phone onto Jeremy's lap as she turned her key in the ignition and her car came to life.

"Call Stefan and Damon, ask them if they know where the cure is," she instructed, driving out of the dirt lot of the cemetery and onto the dirt road of the forest, "The veil is still down so anyone can be here. You wouldn't happen to know who else is crossing over, do you?"

Jeremy shook his head, listening to the endless ringing on the other end of the phone. After he hit the automated voicemail recording he hung up before it could beep, "Stefan won't pick up."

Elena frown, "Try Damon."

Jeremy scrolled through her contacts, pressing call at Damon's name and also coming up with nothing. He tried Matt to make sure Connor hadn't been bluffing and then after another call to Stefan and Damon again he shook his head, "They're not picking up. Do you think somethings happened?"

"I don't know," she swallowed her dread and hoped to god that both Stefan and Damon's phones were either out of reach or dead, but she was worried already. The worst scenarios quickly came to mind.

"Elena!" Jeremy's eyes are wide as someone on the side of the road waved them down. The Salvatore boarding house was only ten minutes away and a disheveled looking blonde gripped the hood of Elena's car just as it stopped. Elena and Jeremy hopped out of the car.

"Elena," it was Lexi, and despite her slightly frantic voice, she had not one scratch on her, "The boarding house. It's been ambushed."

"Oh my god. Stefan and Damon?"

"Inside. One of the hunters, Vaughn. He came with some witches and attacked us. I think they killed me, but when I woke up they were too busy with the boys and I ran for reinforcements. Stefan said you were still at the cemetery."

"We were just heading to the boarding house," Jeremy said. Elena's eyes closed with her sigh.

"What is it?" Lexi asked.

"There's another hunter, Connor. He has Matt and is threatening to kill everyone at the Grill unless we give him the cure and Silas," Elena related her concerns to the older vampire. Everyone just had to step out of the veil all at once, good thing Kol hadn't shown up. Yet. Though hopefully, after last night, never again.

"Vaughn was spewing about the cure too," Lexi shook her head, "Look maybe you can call your friends. Get them to go and stop Connor. As funny and ironic as I find this is we need to rescue the Salvatores, before they're both killed."

Elena nodded in agreement, "Alaric went to the Grill to stop Connor—"

Just then her phone rang and Jeremy, who was still holding it, raised his brows. His timing was impressively creepy, "It's Alaric," he answered, "Hello?"

"_Jeremy?" _his voice sounded muffled and rusty, like he'd been coughing.

"Yeah, Ric. Did you get him?" both Lexi and Elena tuned in with their enhanced hearing.

"_Yeah," _Alaric coughed at the dust around him, waving his hand in front of his face as he stepped out of the room that had exploded and into the main area of the Grill which was now, thankfully, empty, _"I managed to get him away before he hurt anyone but I didn't see Matt here. I think they took him to another location."_

"Good," Jeremy spoke for all three of them there, indicating the no casualty portion.

"_Yup. He did however, have some explosives on him. He couldn't have gotten those just anywhere."_

Elena's brows lifted, "Explosives? His RV maybe?"

"Makes sense," Jeremy nodded, "Did you hear that, Ric? Maybe he has Matt at his RV? It was towed into the wrecking yard after he died. It's worth a shot."

"_Yeah, but I can't go there, I'll have to get rid of Connor. He'll wake up and I'd rather he not be loose," _Alaric surveyed the empty restaurant and turned back to the unconscious man in the rubble.

"Okay, go to the boarding house after, we'll need help," Jeremy hung up after, looking to his sister, "I'll go get Matt. Alaric will come and back you guys up."

"Wait," Elena grabbed Jeremy's arm before he could go, "you can't go by yourself. We don't know if Matt is there by himself or not. There's got to be someone guarding him. I'll call Caroline, I don't want you alone."

Jeremy groaned inwardly, "I'm dead, what'll they do to me?"

"Not to burst your bubble, kid, but they're dead too. If you're going to rescue someone you need all the help you can get," Lexi put in as Elena called her friend. It didn't take long to explain what was going on and to ask her to help Jeremy. When Elena hung up she gave Jeremy her keys.

"Take the car, the boarding house isn't far; Lexi and I can run from here. Be careful okay, and don't go till Caroline gets there," she warned.

"Yes, mom," Jeremy chuckled, getting into the car. He hadn't driven in a while and found himself a little excited at the notion. He just hoped not too many people were at the yard and that ultimately his friend was okay.

* * *

Stefan screamed from the top of his lungs. He had been holding out till that moment, it had all just been too much pain and he couldn't bear it. His head felt like exploding and his hands, tied down onto the chair, were on fire, literally.

After what felt like hours, they extinguished and the throbbing in his head subsided. He breathed, trying to catch his breath and his eyes watched Damon who was across from him. His brother, who sat in an identical manner, chained to a chair, grimaced at him. Vaughn stepped in between their view of each other and spoke, "Tell me one more time. Where is the cure?"

He spoke only to Damon, but even if Stefan wanted to say something he couldn't. His throat felt sore and he was still trying to just breathe. Before they woke up, the dead witches they had killed and Vaughn had risen again. Lexi was nowhere in sight and Stefan hoped that she had gotten away, instead of just lying dead around the corner.

"Where. is. the cure?" Vaughn repeated enunciating.

Damon shook his head, "Look, buddy—"

Stepping aside so that Damon could see, Vaughn signaled to one of the witches and Stefan immediately bent his head, closing his eyes. The aneurysm came back just as painful and his hands caught on fire, spreading up his arm.

His brother's screams echoed in Damon's ears and he shouted, "Stop! Stop! I'll tell you! Just stop hurting him already!"

"That's more like it," Vaughn stepped back into Damon's view, "Now where is it?"

"No," Damon shook his head, "untie me. It's easier if I show you."

"Damon, no," Stefan mumbled, begging his brother. He couldn't just him the cure. It wasn't meant for Silas, not after all that hard work.

"Don't listen to him," Damon told Vaughn with a shake of his head, "I'll give it to you. Just untie me," when he didn't move he added, "What'll I do: run?"

The dead hunter narrowed his eyes, inspecting the older Salvatore before complying. Pulling off his chains he stepped back, giving Damon the space to get up. Rubbing his wrists, Damon glared at Vaughn before he stood, feeling a tense pain on his shoulder and his right thigh. He already had a feeling what it might be, having been previously bitten.

Stefan's eyes met Damon before the latter made his way from the living room towards the foyer.

"Hey hey, where are you headed?" Vaughn followed, grabbing his bad shoulder. Damon held in his groan and shook him off.

"To the stairs," he rolled his eyes, "Just follow me."

He led him up the stairs and stopped in the middle of the hallway in front of a painting. Feeling the sides, he swung it open like a door, revealing a hidden safe.

"Clichéd," Vaughn pointed out and one corner of Damon's lips lifted.

"Yup," he commented, turning the dial to unlock it, "though it does come in handy."

He pulled the safe open and rummaged through it. Soon he pulled out a small box, tossed it to Vaughn who easily caught it, and then proceeded to shut both the safe and the painting close.

Vaughn fiddled with the tiny lock and then pulled the box open, pulling out the glass encased cure. He eyed it and asked, "This is it?"

"Yup."

"How do I know you're not just handing over some blood?"

"I'm a vampire," Damon looked offended, "why in the hell would I ever keep blood in a tiny glass case? That's the cure. And if you don't believe me maybe you should try it."

Vaughn frowned, putting the cure back in its case, "Okay, I believe you. Now where's Silas."

"You're never satisfied are you?" Damon shook his head which earned him a jab with the gun loaded with laced wooden bullets, "Ah, okay. I'll take you."

Downstairs, Damon grabbed his jacket from the coat rack and paused. Vaughn almost ran into him.

"What are you waiting for?"

"Well aren't the Slytherins coming?" he gestured to the six people surrounding his brother.

Vaughn looked back to them, nodding his head as one of them followed, "Happy now?"

Damon refrained from saying a word. He couldn't leave Stefan all by himself, but he knew that he also couldn't stay and have them continue their torture altogether. Turning to the door, he pulled his jacket on. He sincerely hoped that anyone on their side showed up. And soon.

* * *

"Don't you two look cozy," Alexander commented, circling the duo.

At the moment Rebekah held Matt in a balance. If she let go, he would shift and the bomb would most likely detonate. She glared at her ex before sharing a look with Matt, and Alexander headed into the RV.

"He seems nice," he commented, causing her to laugh before she stopped herself.

"Don't make jokes, I'll laugh and you'll fall," she glanced down, the beeping having already driven her mad beeping the way it did for the past hour they'd been there.

"I have the Gilbert ring. I can't be killed by anything supernatural," Matt swallowed, and continued his suggestion, "so maybe, if you're the one that detonates the bomb I won't die."'

"Absolutely not," Rebekah said almost instantly. She had already thought of that, having noticed the ring, and quickly dismissed the risk, "You'll blow into a billion pieces, the ring with it."

"There's only one way to find out."

Rebekah blinked, thinking before verbally agreeing, "Fine, okay."

Staring into Matt's eyes, she could tell he was scared, even if it was him that suggested it.

"The first rule of truly living: do the thing you're most afraid of," she almost whispered, suddenly leaning in and meeting his lips. At first he didn't respond, but as his shock slowly faded she felt his lips move against hers. Her hand found his cheek and subconsciously, she pushed back meaning to step where he stood but instead was suddenly pulled back by her shoulder. She dropped to the floor with Matt still standing on the platform, quickly shaking out of his daze.

"Well, what do we have here?" a girl stood over Rebekah. The brightness of the sun caused her to squint at the stranger, but something about her seemed familiar.

"Hey! Get away from her!" Matt shouted from where he stood, and Alexander stepped out of the RV, puzzled. Rebekah looked to Matt whose eyes began widening as he looked to the cars surrounding them. Looking around, she saw eight familiar faces advancing towards the small clearing in a circle.

"Who are you?" Alexander demanded, surveying them.

"Hunter," the girl who stood over her greeted. Rebekah blinked, recognizing her. She was one of the last twelve hybrids that Klaus had had, before they were all annihilated. What was her name again? Kaitlyn… or something?

"State your business," the hunter demanded, he didn't like the feeling he was getting from them. And he was clearly outnumbered.

"My name is Kim. We're the product of the Original hybrid, Klaus. And he's also our cause of death. We want nothing more than to find him and get our revenge," Kim stated, speaking for all.

Rebekah scoffed, more at how ridiculous their goal was rather than anything sisterly related to Klaus, "You won't find him."

The girl glared at Rebekah, reaching to pull her to her feet by her shirt. Her voice was low, "And why is that?"

Rebekah had half the mind to wrench her arm away and snap her neck. But she reminded herself that there wasn't one but ten people against her and if she could help it, Matt would not be a casualty, "Nik skipped town. And seeing as I don't think you can leave, you're out of luck."

Kim's face was strangely stoic, and Rebekah narrowed her eyes, "What?" she snapped.

"I guess you'll have to do," Kim replied, the veins under her eyes surfacing as she pulled the blonde with a jerk and her fangs viciously sank into her neck.

"NO!" Matt cried in horror, not being able to do a thing. Alexander merely watched with furrowed brows as the others from the pack jumped in, quickly joining their Alpha.

* * *

Bonnie walked out of the girls locker room with her graduation gown on. After grams promised she would hide her body Bonnie had gone from the basement to pick up her gown, and the few things she left from the locker room. She would hate for her friends to have to pick it up after learning of her death.

She sighed, fiddling with the cap in her hands. She had also tried her gown and with her gym bag slung over her shoulder she was headed to her car, to head home and get her dress. She didn't know if it was a blessing or a curse that the veil decided she wasn't strong enough dead to bring it back up. This way she would graduate, as normally as she would have if she had been alive, but also she would see her friends one last time. Her father one last time. But she still didn't know if she had it in her to say goodbye.

She pushed away her thoughts, rounding the corner into another hall. Just then Katherine appeared beside her, falling into stride. Bonnie rolled her eyes, '_Not now.'_

"I don't think red is really your colour Bon Bon," Katherine said, not looking to the witch.

"And here I was hoping the ghost of anyone would've killed you already."

"Funny you should mention death. Because I'm here to collect that immortality you promised me," Katherine retaliated, unphased.

"Funny you still think you're gonna get it. I told you Qetsiyah's the only witch who knows the immortality spell. She was a no show, so you're outta luck."

"See, here's the thing, Bonnie," she turned, halting both of them in their path, "I can't disagree with you, because I have been feeling out of luck lately. But _this_ has nothing to with luck, this is all you. I know you can talk to Qetsiyah, and if you can't-find a way. Because if I don't get that immortality soon, I may just have to get rid of a few people you know and love for you to see my point."

"Did you just threaten my friends?" Bonnie asked, sounding just as threatening.

Katherine replied with a shrug and Bonnie straightened, shifting her feet.

"I can crush your skull without even flinching," she hissed, watching as the vampire's expression turned into a nonchalant smile.

"Go ahead," Katherine looked behind the witch, "Make your move."

Bonnie turned just as her phone rang and she saw a group of her classmates behind her. Without another glance at the doppelganger she picked up her phone and turned away from her. The group of five walked passed her, holding their folded gowns.

"Hello?"

"_Bonnie! It's Caroline, I need you to meet me at Billy's Wrecking Yard. There's dead people everywhere and Elena called me earlier about having to save Matt and I had to meet Jeremy here because this is where Matt is and it all sounded frantic and I thought we could use some back up just in case and I mean Elena couldn't come with us because the boarding house has been attacked, and Stefan and Damon are stuck in there apparently with lots of undead guys, but she has Lexi and Alaric and it'll only be me and Jeremy and what if there's more than we can handle—"_

"Whoa, Care, slow down. I can't understand," Bonnie said, momentarily forgetting her initial conversation with the vampire, who still stood in the hall.

Katherine's eyes narrowed, having listened in and she only had to hear a small portion of it before she tilted her head to one side.

"What's going on?" Bonnie continued, and quickly added, "The shortened version."

Caroline took a deep breath, and Bonnie could hear Jeremy call out to the blonde, who silenced him, _"The undead are attacking us. All of us. Elena, Lexi and Alaric are going to save Damon and Stefan, and Jeremy and I are near the wrecking yard,"_ there was a short pause, _"Jeremy says he saw Matt and he_ really _needs our help. So you need to come here right now!"_

"Okay, okay. The wrecking yard?" there was only one in Mystic Falls.

"_Yes! Hurry!"_

And they both hung up. Suddenly remembering her first conversation, Bonnie turned, scanning the hall. It was empty, save herself. Katherine was gone. Pulling off her graduation gown, she resumed her earlier path towards the parking lot. She would deal with Katherine later. Right now, there were more urgent things to do.

* * *

Vaughn and the witch, who Damon concluded to call "Carrot," due to her hideously bright shirt, followed closely behind him. Damon had driven and led them to the top of a hill, with a waterfall. He remembered going there as a kid, jumping off the cliff and into the ravine with Stefan and their friends. He remembered how deep and nice it was, and quite vividly the way Giuseppe smacked him over the head for bringing his little brother to such a dangerous spot.

"Here we are," Damon stopped at the top, leaning casually against a tree with his good arm. He felt his body temperature going up and he was already slightly feeling the dizziness. It didn't help the way up that his leg was also throbbing with the wolf venom.

"What is it?" Vaughn asked, looking around.

"It's where I dumped Silas," he turned, looking to both Vaughn and Carrot. They shared a look before stepping forward to the edge, closer to where he stood. When they weren't looking he dropped his act, taking the short liberty to limp away from the cliff before turning back to them. He continued with his tour guide voice, "Closed off to hikers, no food for animals, endlessly deep water."

"I'm not following you, Damon," Vaughn turned, "where exactly did you put the body."

"Well uh, you see," Damon looked behind him and pointed as he explained in a more or less serious tone, "I dragged his stone ass through here, I flung him in that general direction and he tumbled down there... somewhere."

Vaughn's face was incredulous but he continued, "What do you know about physics? What is it? Is it distance equals velocity times time?"

For the first time Carrot spoke, "We're not stupid. Tell us exactly where it is."

She advanced, but Vaughn stopped her. The marks on Damon's neck and the sickly way he looked coming to his attention, "What the hell happened to you?"

"Oh," Damon looked to his shoulder, seeing it from the corner of his eyes, "will you look at that. That's nasty."

Vaughn chuckled, looking to his gun and putting two and two together, "Connor, he must've laced these bullets with werewolf venom."

"Ding ding ding!" Damon rolled his eyes, how could he not have known that from the beginning? Idiot. With a smirk he said, "Not as dumb as you sound."

Immediately Vaughn fired one into Damon's other leg, and he groaned as both of his legs gave way. He couldn't stand anymore and he fell to his knees.

"This was all a lie, eh? You knew you were a dead man," he paused to pull the cure from his collar, "Well, you're not gettin this back."

"Where's Silas?" Carrot demanded.

Straightening, he chuckled at her question, and suddenly felt his head imploding in itself, "Arghh!"

"The lady asked a question," Vaughn said as the aneurysm subsided, "One more jolt with werewolf toxin and you'll be dead within minutes. Where's Silas!?"

Breathing deeply he looked Vaughn in the eye. He had no gamble on whether or not he would shoot him. Either way it didn't matter because, in so many ways, he was technically already dead, and when he had faced _real_ death as much as he had, it no longer shook him like it used to. Vaughn clutched the trigger. Instantly, an arm was over Vaughn's head, cracking his spine and throwing him into the lake. Alaric stood in the hunter's place, a smile on his face.

Damon hadn't even noticed Carrot's silent demise. Bending over, Alaric also threw her over the edge.

"Oops," Alaric commented.

"One slight problem," Damon breathed, his eyes threatening to close.

"Oh you mean this?" Alaric's smile didn't falter as he held up the cure and placed it in his pocket. He bent down to sling one of Damon's arms over his shoulders and picked him up, "Come on, buddy, you don't look so good."

"How did you—?"

Alaric chuckled, "I was actually burying Connor in a pit down a mile that way," he didn't bother to point, "I thought I heard your sarcasm, and figured you'd want some help."

Damon breathed out his laugh. In a rush they were on the road and Alaric helped him into a truck that Damon didn't recognize.

"Did you steal this?"

Alaric shrugged as he hopped in and drove, "It had some gardening tools and fertilizer in the back. Much easier burying tools than a shovel."

He raised his brows and looked to his friend, laughing at his idea and then noticing that Damon had gone unconscious. Almost immediately Alaric's smile dropped, and he focused on the road. He couldn't go back to the boarding house and there was literally nowhere else to go. Scanning through some names in his head he thought of a plausible place and stepped on the gas. After he dropped him off, he still needed to get to the boarding house and help Elena and Stefan.

* * *

Elena pushed open the front door of the Salvatore boarding house. In normal pace she stepped in, flinching as she heard Stefan's shouts. She swallowed forcing herself not to run in recklessly, she couldn't stand the thought of Stefan in pain. Instead she walked, stepping into the view of the living room slowly. Lexi had said that there were at least six witches, but she could only see five and none of whom were men. So the hunter she had never met, Vaughn, wasn't among them, but neither was Damon.

Stefan looked to her from his position, his eyes wide in fear.

Suddenly on her knees, Elena clutched her head, "Wait-!" she pleaded in between a cry.

Vaguely, she noticed Stefan fight against his retrains. One of witches stepped forward and the pain faded, "What do you want, vampire?"

"I have what you want," she said, slowly getting to her feet. She looked to Stefan who shook his head.

"Elena, you shouldn't have come here," he rasped out, shaking his head and warning her with his eyes. He knew what she was going to say, and he already knew that they wouldn't believe her.

"And what do we want?"

"The cure," she said, "And Silas."

The witch smirked, "We already have those."

Almost instantly, Elena fell to her knees, grasping at her head. A beat later one witch's neck was snapped and followed by another before they began to notice. The leader of the group didn't move with her concentration still on the doppelganger. The remaining two looked around and tried to find the source of their friends deaths. Briefly, Lexi appeared to break one of the witches spines, and with a definite crack she went down, but that time was enough for the other witch to concentrate on her. Lexi dropped to the floor, and Elena shook her head.

"No," she muttered. The duo had waited, but Stefan's shouts had prompted them to act without Alaric. They had been so close. Three out of five. One more and they would've been won. Just… if only they had gotten to another. And just as the thought passed Elena's mind the witch, who was focusing on her, dropped dead. Shortly followed by the other.

Lexi looked around and then to Elena, astonished, "Did you do that?"

Elena shook her head, but her eyes narrowed, "I don't—I don't know."

"Precious little Elena, you really are that dense," a voice spoke from behind her and Elena turned just as Katherine passed by. She headed to the middle of the room where Lexi got up, ignoring the new presence and already pulling at the chains around Stefan wrist. The older doppelganger spun on her heels to eye Elena. She shook her head, "We may look alike but don't take credit where it's not due."

Elena glared daggers at her, refraining from appropriately thanking her and moved to where Stefan was.

"Are you okay, Stefan?" Elena gazed at him with worried eyes, noticing that the burns on his hands and arms weren't healing. Katherine slightly craned her neck to see from where she stood, but she didn't move. Elena frowned, "Why aren't you healing?"

"I'm fine," Stefan murmured, leaning back on the chair. He still sat in the same position minus the chains.

"He just needs a little blood," Lexi came in after retrieving a bag from downstairs. She handed it to her best friend.

When he was done and his wounds were healed Elena inspected his hands, and then asked one of the first things that came to mind earlier when she'd entered, "Where's Damon?"

"He went to show Vaughn where we buried Silas," Stefan replied, getting to his feet. He was massaging at his temples.

"What?" Elena asked, shocked.

"I thought so too but we haven't even buried Silas yet, he's still in the garage," Stefan said.

"Why aren't we going after him? He might need our help."

He shook his head, "I don't know where Damon went. We never talked about where we were going to bury Silas. I have no idea where he could've gone as a distraction."

Her forehead wrinkled in worry and Stefan couldn't help but feel the same.

"Okay, lovebirds," Katherine called from where she now sat, "I know you both want to find Damon and all, but do I need to remind you that your living room is currently littered with dead witches. And I doubt they'll appreciate their unexpected nap, courtesy of everyone in this house," Stefan and Elena turned to her in unison, as she pointed to the bodies.

Lexi, who stood at the entrance of the foyer nodded, "I hate to agree with _any_ psychotic bitch, but she's right," Katherine flashed Lexi a smile and walked gracefully out of the room, leaving the cleaning up to them. The blonde's eyes followed her out and she rolled them, continuing, "We need to get rid of them before they cause any more trouble."

The two nodded in agreement.

"I'll go. Elena, you come with me," the blonde gestured, heading to one of the bodies.

"I'll come with," Stefan offered, taking a few steps before grimacing and bringing a hand to his head.

"Um no," Elena shook her head and pushed him onto the couch, "You stay here. As much as I hate to leave you with Katherine, you need some rest. We'll be back soon."

Lexi merely raised both brows when Stefan looked to her for back up.

Quickly, the two of them piled the five bodies into the van outside and headed out; ignoring the Salvatore's protests. When the sound of the vehicle was out of earshot, he leaned back on the couch with a sigh, briefly closing his eyes. The entire day had been exhausting already and it had hardly even begun. He was grateful to have his best friend back but he really wished the other supernatural dead hadn't been given the privilege to cross the veil. '_Ah, wishful thinking isn't going to get you anywhere,_' he thought and then began thinking of locations Damon could have headed to. A few minutes in he could only think of three or four places his brother might go to. Deep in thought he almost jumped when a hand traveled up his chest and a petite figure nuzzled into the crook of his arm. Opening his eyes, he pushed Katherine away, and moved a seat down.

"Go away, Katherine," he mumbled.

"What? Don't I get a thank you for saving your life?"

Stefan frowned and sarcastically responded, "Thank you for saving the day," he turned away but beneath the sarcasm he sounded the slightest bit sincere, "Now go away."

"That wasn't what I had in mind," Katherine muttered and sighed, pulling her feet from underneath her and placing them on the floor, "You're no fun."

"I'm not here for your entertainment, Katherine," Stefan glanced at her, "I don't even understand why you're here."

"Maybe I missed you," she pouted, moving towards him but only earning herself an immediate sneer from him. She stopped, "Oh, that's right, Elena. It'll always _be _Elena for you now," the corners of her lips turned up and she gave a short chuckle, "But doesn't it hurt to know that it'll never again be 'always Stefan' for her?"

Stefan scowled at her, his fingers curling but he didn't say a word as he got to his feet.

"Oh, don't pout Stefan," Katherine called after him as he headed out of the room, "It's not a very good look on you."

She laughed as he fled from sight and she reclined on the couch. A few moments later she heard who she guessed to be the ex-vampire hunter approach before he barged through the door.

Alaric stood at the foyer, eyeing her for a moment before concluding, "You're not Elena."

"I'm not," she said, and dismissed him altogether as she closed her eyes as if to take a nap.

"Alaric," Stefan suddenly appeared at the foyer. Alaric scanned the house with what he could see and quickly concluded what had happened before addressing the vampire. Stefan noticed the hidden distress in his expression, "What is it?"

"It's Damon," Alaric answered and the young man stepped forward, suddenly afraid of what he might say next. Feeling his pocket, the former teacher pulled out the item in it and handed it to Stefan. His expression was grim, "He's dying, Stefan."

Almost instantly, the younger Salvatore's heart dropped. The many times Damon cheated death were not enough to have Stefan be thankful that death knocked at his door so frequently. Alaric didn't need to elaborate; the worry, the distress and the desperation that was written all over his face explained everything to Stefan. It was bad. And Stefan could only think of one thing that would so badly threaten a vampire's life: werewolf venom. He knew he smelt something odd on Vaughn earlier. Stefan swallowed the lump in his throat. Klaus wasn't in Mystic Falls, and he may be too far to travel back and forth before said venom killed his brother.

But as if immediately finding the answer to all his problems, his eyes fell on the item in his hand—the cure.

* * *

**A/N:** So that's it for part one. Its kinda boring but I've never written such a long ass chapter so I'm kind of proud (and it originally is longer because I have to fit all the important parts of the episode here). Um I said it would be different and well it will be completely different than what Julie Plec has in mind. I think. After the next chapter, Graduation Part 2, it'll officially be "Season 5." Hope you guys enjoyed!


	2. Graduation Part 2

Chapter 2: Graduation Part 2

**A/N: **Its my birthday and I thought I'd finish this chapter for y'all. So enjoy part 2!

* * *

"It's Damon," Alaric said in a low tone, "He's dying."

Katherine's brows knitted together as she sat up, the conversation between the two men having caught her attention. They both had gone quiet shortly after Alaric delivered the news of Damon's current state, and even with her eyes shut she could feel the tension hanging in the air. Stefan glanced up to meet Alaric's eyes and from the couch Katherine could see that he was holding something. The cure. Still in its tiny glass case, Stefan closed his fingers around it. After handing the giant metaphorical chess piece over to Elijah she hadn't bothered to find out where it ended up. She hadn't been up for the "Who will take it?" drama because if anything, it more than likely would have ended in her carbon copy's hands and Katherine couldn't care less. But now it seemed the younger Salvatore was having other, more intriguing ideas.

"Vaughn's gun had bullets laced with werewolf venom. And Damon was shot at least three times," the older man explained, "I don't think he has much time left."

A sense of déjà vu came over Katherine, wasn't it just a couple months before that Damon had been bitten by a wolf? She'd think he would've learned the first time around but then again he never was one to stay out of trouble. And at such a disastrous time without the Original hybrid around to haggle away his blood.

One look at Stefan and Alaric's expressions and Katherine couldn't contain her scoff. Their gaze shifted to her and she rolled her eyes, "There's no way Damon will take that. At least not willingly."

"What do you know?" Stefan remarked, wanting to ignore her. She had a point but he was bitter about what she had said regarding Elena, and he didn't want to have to listen to her.

"Don't dismiss it, Stefan. You know I'm right," she shook her head, "Damon _loves_ being a vampire. Even when he wasn't even one yet. What makes you think that he'll take it now?"

She didn't want to also bring up the fact that all this time, their entire gang of misfits had been dedicated on finding it and giving it to Elena. Though, she couldn't say she was surprised that Stefan so quickly turned to the nearest source of solving this little predicament, despite any other outlaying factors. It was like before, when he'd been so easily swayed to drink all those blood bags in a bargain for Klaus' blood without so much as a second thought.

"Because he's _dying_, Katherine. And though that may not mean anything to you, it means everything to me," her lips were a thin line as he spoke and his voice turned into a whisper. It seemed like he was talking more to himself than to her as he confessed, "I can't just watch my brother die."

Alaric watched, looking to Stefan, "And as much as I love to have my drinking buddy on the other side, I'd never wish anyone an eternity in that hell hole. Oh well maybe Klaus… or you," he turned to Katherine with an ill intended grin that she sarcastically returned. He may not know her really but, filled with second hand knowledge from both Salvatores and Elena, he had enough reason to dislike her.

"Okay, Ric, take me to him," Stefan shifted his focus, "I'll call Klaus just in case. Maybe he can still make it here."

"And what makes you think he'll come willingly?" she interjected, having gotten to her feet.

"And what makes you think I won't beg Klaus if I have to?"

Katherine shook her head, disbelieving, "That doesn't guarantee that he _will_ come."

"I'm wasting my breath," he murmured, turning to leave through the door. Alaric followed him, leaving Katherine standing in the empty house.

With a frown she rolled her eyes; she would never personally put any faith on that monster of a man and sometimes Stefan was just too hopeful for his own good. As for Damon, she meant what she said. Damon wouldn't willing take it, not for her doppelganger, like she'd witnessed on the island, and most importantly not for himself. Though as much as they'd like to believe, she did know the Salvatores and there was exactly one person who she could imagine Damon would take the cure for. With a shake of her head she glanced around one more time, leaving the boarding house as well and heading off in a different direction.

* * *

Bonnie parked on the side of the road behind Caroline and Elena's cars. Billy's Wrecking Yard was on the edge of the expression triangle, if she were estimating right, and also near the outskirts of Mystic Falls. The road was unsurprisingly empty. She jumped out of her Prius just as Jeremy and Caroline both slammed the doors to Elena's car.

"Finally, Bonnie!" Caroline began, "We heard Matt shouting and I listened in, there has to at least be more than five people there! Like a lot more."

"Last time I checked, I saw Matt and Rebekah and one other guy," Jeremy added, "Other people must've joined them."

"Rebekah?" Bonnie asked. From speaking to Matt she had learned that the blonde Original had a thing for him, and if she couldn't save both herself and Matt there must be something wrong.

"Yeah," Jeremy shook his head as his brows knitted together, "and Matt looked like he was balancing on something."

"We kind of made a plan, but I really don't think we should be storming in there," Caroline said, "I mean we have to save Matt but we can't save him if we get caught too."

Bonnie nodded in agreement.

"The way I took to get in is hidden, we could go there now and see what we're up against," Jeremy suggested.

"Okay, let's go."

Leaving their cars a block away, the trio rounded the corner of the street. Jeremy stopped by the chain link fence and pulled it back. Caroline and Bonnie crouched down, going through, followed by Jeremy. Putting a hand on both her and Jeremy, Caroline made them pause.

"What is it?" she asked the blonde.

"There's blood," she breathed, blinking away the veins that were beginning to surface under her eyes, "they're not far."

Jeremy nodded, bending down and leading the way from where he saw them last. He whispered to them, "Okay, keep your head down. We don't want to be seen."

Bending behind cars and other piles of metal the trio soon found a spot not too far off from the clearing. From where she was crouching, Bonnie saw Matt. He appeared shaken, standing on a small platform and he looked pale. A dark haired girl stood in front of him with her back to them. Others sat on the floor or stood, all of them covered in blood, dripping down their chins or on their hands. In fact, all the dark blotches on the pavement were most likely blood as well. Following the trail on the ground, Bonnie's eyes widened at the only figure lying down. She couldn't tell who it was but from the blonde hair she was willing to bet that that was Rebekah.

Caroline's hand flew up to her mouth to stop herself from gasping in shock. Jeremy had his jaw set, horrified by the scene and much more so when he thought of how Matt witnessed it unfold. The one thing that seemed to be in their favor was that the blond bust boy didn't seem at the very least harmed. The three of them shared a look.

"There's eight of them," Caroline whispered, counting heads.

"I don't like the odds of that," Jeremy muttered.

"Okay, I don't think our first plan is going to work anymore," the blonde remarked, looking back over the hood of the car.

Bonnie couldn't feel anymore helpless. Due to their violent behaviour the people holding her friend were more than likely part of the twelve hybrids that were massacred for the triangle. After becoming one of the undead, Bonnie's powers didn't fade, like her mom's when she was turned; but they did wane a little. She hadn't just been trying to buy time when she told Caroline that she couldn't bring up the veil without the moon anymore. And now faced with what appeared to be eight fully powered hybrids she wasn't so sure if just the three of them could take them all. Jeremy still had his hunters strength, Caroline was a vampire and she had the tail end of what her expression powers used to be.

"Well, it's three against eight," Jeremy said, finding a metal rod on the ground and gripping it, "if we divide them up we could at least try. I mean maybe if we move fast enough they'll be too surprised to retaliate."

"That's a lot of ifs," Caroline muttered, but the other two heard her. She was right, but they couldn't just stand there. Sooner or later those hybrids would get bored and move on to Matt.

"Okay, Jere you take those two up front. Caroline, try to get to those guys on the right. I'll distract everyone, but you guys will have to move quick," Bonnie instructed, "I don't know how long I'll be able to hold all of them."

With quick nod, they inched closer. Only a car away the three jumped from their spot and sprang into action. With the rod, Bonnie saw Jeremy swing it into one guy's face, his hunter strength giving it a boost. Fast on his feet he dodged as the closest guy lunged for him, and without breaking momentum he stuck the rod into the first hybrid he attacked, effectively stopping him from rising.

Bonnie rose her hands and five out of eight hybrids fell to the ground, crying out with their hands on their heads. Muttering under her breath, the ground at her feet suddenly lit with fire; it traveled over the blood, engulfing one and then two girls who were already on their knees. Not too far she saw Caroline, with vampiric speed, kick her target in the between the legs and used his momentary windedness to stick her hand in his chest and pull out his heart.

"Watch out!" Matt shouted. He leaned in, wanting to help his friends.

Bonnie, who was closest, heard him just as something sharp sunk itself into her neck from behind. She cried out and she saw Caroline dash towards her, grabbing the hybrid by her hair and yanking her off.

"Get off my friend!" the blonde yelled and Bonnie dropped on her knees. Her vision was swimming and she couldn't focus enough to bring the spell back up. With her hand on her neck she noticed Jeremy running towards them while Caroline fought off anyone aiming for their current weakest link. With a giant shove, Caroline flew back, skidding just past Bonnie with a groan, "This is so not our day."

Gaining her strength, Bonnie muttered Latin under her breath, forming a blue transparent force field around her and Matt. Jeremy waved the rod in his hand as if it were a torch, fending off the attacking animals, as he stepped back into the field with Caroline not far behind. With the field around them the witch let out a deep breath, watching as the remaining hybrids surrounded them.

They couldn't get in.

Jeremy knelt beside Bonnie, his eyes running over her bleeding neck, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she winced, bringing her hand in front of her to see red. Could she still die if she was already dead? Meeting Jeremy's eyes she nodded rigidly, "I'm good."

"Uh, guys," Caroline began, making them both look up just as a hybrid ran into the force field and Caroline ducked, "Ahh!"

With the same amount of force as the hybrid came at it with, he bounced back.

"Kim," one of them said, pounding on the field with his fist as he addressed the girl beside him, "What do we do?"

"I don't supposed you have a witch among you?" a muscular man, quite older than the rest of them asked. He didn't seem like he belonged with them, and from his accent and the way the hybrids were all standing away from him, Bonnie guessed he didn't.

There were four people left standing, and counting the fallen it appeared that there had been more than just the eight they had initially thought were there.

"What are they supposed to do now, what are _we_ supposed to do now?" Caroline reiterated, asking the obvious question that Bonnie had no answer to. She had panicked when she couldn't focus enough and quickly brought up the quickest form of defense she had. It was just like when she had imprisoned Klaus in the Gilbert's house, except this time it was inverted and she had no idea how long it would last.

"Does this force field only keep people out or what?" Matt asked from his spot.

"What do you mean?" Bonnie glanced towards him.

"I mean, say they were to throw something at us," he suggested, looking to the wires on the ground.

Bonnie didn't know what he was getting at but she answered, "Of course they can't. That would defeat the whole purpose of protecting us."

"And just when I thought there was something we could do to pass the time," Kim remarked, looking to the two remaining from her pack and Alexander, who frowned. Bonnie didn't know what his deal was, but he was just standing there.

"Care, I need you to do something," Matt said, subtly indicating with his eyes to his feet and the ground in general. Bonnie looked down as well noticing how the wires attached to what he stood on led out of their force field. Understanding what he meant, Bonnie glanced to Caroline who nodded.

"Hey! What are you doing?" one of the hybrids asked, noticing their subtle conversation.

Locking eyes with the other blonde, Matt shouted suddenly, "Now!"

He jumped off the platform and with speed Caroline grabbed the box and flung it outside of the field. Bonnie's eyes widened as it flew through the air. The beeping was accelerating, and Kim and the others shouted, immediately ducking for cover. The platform crashed onto the ground and fell apart, beeping once as a small puff of smoke frizzled out.

The witch blinked a couple of times, her brows knitting together, "It didn't blow…"

"Indeed," Alexander was the only one left standing on the outside of the field, his arms crossed.

"What?!" Kim shouted, getting to her feet, "You're telling me that that thing wasn't even real?"

The hunter glared at the hybrid, killing the likes of her were what he did for leisure and for all the entertainment he had watching them tear Rebekah apart, he was finding her more and more annoying. Bonnie didn't have to be psych to see that on his face.

"I needn't tell you anything really. In fact, you're infringing on the entirety of my mission."

"Excuse me?"

Bonnie turned away, looking to her friends. Caroline took a deep breath, appearing to shake her nerves. Matt was on the floor, breathing heavily at the adrenaline rush, and had his mouth hanging wide open. No doubt in so much disbelief that the thing he had been standing on for so long hadn't blown anyone to bits like it was supposed to. And then her eyes met Jeremy's; their mutual relief washing over both of them because he knew she was unsure of how well the force field would take an explosion. Somehow he always knew.

"I'm sorry but didn't I kill you already?" a voice asked from behind the hunter, whom the question was directed to. Kim suddenly jerked forward, her expression falling as she dropped and Klaus stood where she had, her heart in his hand. When the other hybrids froze, the Original ran, grabbing them both by their heads and throwing them into the force field. When they bounced back he already had a sheet of metal in his hand and he swiped at their torsos, not bothering to look at them as they both fell in two pieces.

Klaus raised a hand, "I asked you a question, mate."

"You!" Alexander hissed, bringing his gun up and firing at him. Expertly dodging every bullet, Klaus sped up and pressed his forearm into Alexander's neck while his other arm held him still, into a headlock. The hunter struggled and Klaus held him firmer, his muscles tensing as he looked over the other man's shoulders at his unconscious sister.

"We really have to stop ending things like this," he hissed, twisting roughly and letting Alexander fly a few feet away. Shaking the blood from his hands Klaus stood straight, breathing deep. He turned to the gang in the blue dome, "Now, someone tell me what the bloody hell is going on."

* * *

"Stefan, oh thank god!" Liz Forbes looked about to collapse in relief as she pulled the door open to let both he and Alaric in.

"How is he?" Alaric asked.

Sheriff Forbes pursed her lips, bringing her head down slightly as she shook it, "Oh he's not doing too well. His fever spiked and he keeps hallucinating. Calling out to…," she paused, and looked to Stefan, "well he called you. I can't believe this is what a werewolf bite does, I don't know how long he'll be. Did you find a solution?"

Stefan sighed, feeling a giant weight on his shoulders, "Yes. Is he awake?"

"Last time I checked," the Sheriff nodded, showing them to the spare room in the house.

The entire drive to the Forbes' residence, Stefan had been anxious. Much like when the Gilbert device had almost inadvertently killed his brother in a fire, or when he had gone to Klaus for the first time to beg for answers to the werewolf bite, or much more recently when Alaric's alter ego successfully killed Klaus. He was nervous and he hated that his choices were so few.

He stepped into the room where Damon lay on the bed, his face glistening with sweat and his mouth parted, helping him breathe a little better. The Sheriff excused herself, giving them space, and Alaric glanced at Stefan with a nod that said "He'll understand," before leaving as well. Stepping towards his brother his jaw clenched. The infection had spread, covering the majority of his left cheek and stopping just beside his eye. His hand slipped into his jacket pocket and he swallowed; how could he do this to his brother yet again? The first time, when he had basically taken away his will to not turn without Katherine in his life, and now this. From vampire to human, he would be taking Damon's choice into his own hands twice. And for what? The selfish choice to have him in his life? To keep him alive no matter what? The need to have his older brother with him even if it meant another vow of an eternity of misery?

Stefan felt the cure between his fingers, pulling it out and staring at the liquid inside. He would be human again. Damon would be _human_ again. For the dozenth time it hit him. When the promise of the cure appeared, he had wanted it; it would be his most simple choice. When it was revealed that there was only one, he knew he had to find it for Elena; because he wanted so desperately for her to always have that choice. And now, with Damon dying and the cure his only hope Stefan almost staggered at the thought.

Stefan felt a prick in the back of his eyes and he blinked.

'_I can't do this,' _he thought, feeling his heart seize up at the notion of what he'd intended to do.

"Damon," his voice was husky and he cleared his throat, sitting on the edge of the bed, "Damon."

He shook Damon's good shoulder, watching closely as his brows furrowed and he groaned. Stefan didn't remember much of his childhood, but he can always recall that during Christmas, when their father was too busy to celebrate, he would sit by the fire while Damon read to him his favorite story, _The Christmas Carol_; And on one occasions when he had been dared to climb an old dying tree and had fallen, Damon had taken the blame. Growing up with him, living for centuries at each other's throats and now even after all that's happened concerning Elena, despite it all, he loved his brother. And what was love without choice? What was love if he didn't trust and believe the older Salvatore had the freedom to choose for himself?

"Whu-," Damon spoke. Stefan blinked, swallowing.

Even if that meant he wouldn't choose him.

For everything in the past, for the one hundred and fourty six years of his existence, he owed Damon that much.

"Hey, hey," he said soothingly when he winced, "don't move, okay."

"Stefan?"

"I'm here, big brother," his eyes searched Damon's face, and for once he could associate his brother with a word even remotely similar to frail.

"You're okay," he breathed, "but don't tell me you're here to nurse me back to health."

"Damon," Stefan rolled the cure in his hand.

"Cause I think Liz is better at this," he laughed, which turned into a cough, "Have you seen Elena?"

"Yeah, she's with Lexi right now but you, you're dying,"

"You don't say," he smirked slightly.

Stefan didn't waste any time, "Look I can get you better."

"Oh great," Damon raised his brows, "why didn't you mention it sooner?"

"It's not Klaus' blood," he shook his head, watching his brother closely. Damon eyebrows lowered, realizing exactly what he was getting at. Quickly he spoke, "It's the cure, Damon."

Damon shook his head but he pressed, "If you take it, you won't die of werewolf venom."

"Stefan, no. You know I don't want that."

"But you're dying Damon, you have no choice."

"I do. I'd rather die."

"No," the younger Salvatore shook his head again, "no you wouldn't. Don't say that."

"I mean it Stefan," even pained he still managed to look angered, "why would I want to be human? Why would I want to go back to what I was? I'd be weak. I… I'd have nothing to live for."

"No, you're wrong," he was insistent, "being human doesn't make you weak. You're my big brother. You've always been the strongest person I know. And you would have everything to live for. A future to look forward to. To cherish," he paused, silently hearing Damon's joking voice about him and his morality and ideals but he meant every word, "And you'd have me."

Damon narrowed his eyes and Stefan knew he was seeing what he wasn't saying, "Please, don't leave me." He gives a light chuckle, rolling his eyes, "Doesn't sound very promising."

Stefan took hold of his brother's wrist, clasping the cure between his hand and Damon's, "You don't have much time. It's your choice to make, but know that whatever you choose—I love you, brother."

Stefan tried to unclasp his hand but Damon held firm, "Hold on."

"Take this," he let go, leaving the cure in his younger brother's hand and Stefan's heart dropped.

With a deep sigh, Damon gestured, "Give it to me."

"Huh?"

Damon coughed, rolling his eyes, "I can't really move, Stefan. And I'd rather not drop it once you leave."

Stefan almost chuckled, choking on his relief as his eyes met his brother.

* * *

"That's the last of them," Elena said, glancing at Lexi as she stuck her shovel in the ground.

They had gone deep into the forest where there was a hole that she guessed had to have been, at one point, a big fox den because when they stuffed the five bodies in they had disappeared in the dark depths. They had then shoveled dirt into it until it was packed. Elena just hoped that they didn't wake up any time soon.

"Watch out," Lexi warned, kicking a thick fallen trunk into the entrance of the burrow. She sighed, "Just in case."

"Great, let's head back," Elena nodded, carrying her shovel over her shoulder and heading back to the car. They got in and drove, the boarding house not too far off, but far enough. Elena felt the urge to check up on Jeremy, but then figured that when they were done or if he needed help he would call her himself. Glancing from the road to look at the blonde in the passenger's seat Elena wondered her quietness. She remembered how talkative Lexi had been when she were still alive and even as a ghost. But then again they had had something to talk about on both occasions—Stefan—and right now neither wanted to talk about _that _situation.

Elena bit her lip, turning the car into the circular driveway and hopping out. Lexi was the first to the door and as she walked through Elena noticed the lack of people in the living room. She took a step to follow and was suddenly pushed back.

"Lexi," she said, frowning as she pushed at an invisible force at the threshold, "What's going on?"

The blonde turned back, "You can't get in. Why can't you get in?"

"Stefan?!" Elena called into the house, but even from outside she could tell no one was in the house. She looked at Lexi, catching a glimpse of emotion on her face that left the brunette puzzled, "Wait, how come you can get in?"

"Maybe, its cause I'm dead… well dead dead," she shrugged, coming out of the house, watching as three different cars drove up into the driveway. Jeremy, Caroline, Bonnie and Matt all climbed out, slamming their doors.

"Elena, you guys are okay," Jeremy smiled, bringing his sister into a hug.

"Yeah, I'm just glad you guys made it too," she turned to Matt, "You okay?"

He nodded, still looking shaken up. The blond sighed, "I almost thought we wouldn't make it."

"There had to be at least ten hybrids there," Jeremy said.

Elena's brows rose, "What? What happened?"

"Well Klaus came just in time," Caroline added with a frown but it didn't hold any contempt, "he basically saved us."

"We can tell you inside," Bonnie said, "I want to sit down."

Bonnie made to move towards the door but Lexi stopped her, "There's something going on, I wouldn't go in there if I were you."

"Hey, Care, can you try going in," Elena asked, gesturing.

"Huh? Why? Lexi just said-."

"No, I just want to see if you can't step in either."

"Either?" Caroline asked but complied, stopping short at the threshold just like Elena had, "what the hell?" she pushed trying once more, "Why can't I get in?"

"That's what I'd like to know," Lexi interjected.

Caroline frowned, "It's like we have to be invited in…"

"I guess we should've expected that," Stefan suddenly appeared behind them and Alaric got out of the truck, following the younger man.

"Stefan, what's going on?" Elena stepped forward.

"Damon had werewolf venom in his system."

"What?" she straightened, concerned, "Is he okay?"

"Yeah, he's fine now. I couldn't get a hold of Klaus so…," he looked into Elena's eyes and she suddenly put two and two together, "I gave him the cure."

Stefan glanced at his best friend who rose her eyebrows, and then to everyone else who were probably just as surprised. And then she remembered what Caroline had told them and Elena held back the information that Klaus had been there. She knew it would only upset Stefan, and it seemed so did everyone else.

Caroline shrugged, "Well now we can't get in."

"So what are we going to do?" Jeremy asked.

Alaric looked past Elena to everyone and the brunette followed his gaze. She noticed for the first time that everybody looked like they'd had just finished fighting a wild animal—more or less. Alaric spoke, "It seems everyone had somebody to deal with, and I'm guessing since we're all here, they've been dealt with."

Everyone nodded in agreement, but Caroline was the only one who checked her watch. Her eyes almost popped out, "Oh my gosh, grad is in less than an hour!"

"Care, we can't go," Elena shook her head.

"No, she's right, you guys should go. You can't miss your first graduation ever," Lexi spoke up, shaking her head, "Alaric is right, anyone willing to get revenge is gone for the time being and I'm pretty sure that none of them will be back any time soon."

"Take advantage of this opportunity, I like how you think," Caroline smiled to the other blonde, "So come on guys!"

Elena sighed but Jeremy slipped from the inside the house with two graduation gowns, "You have to go Elena, no excuses."

"You too, Stefan." Lexi added, taking one gown from Jeremy and handing it to her best friend.

Stefan sighed, and Caroline clapped her hands in excitement, "Great! Let's go!"

* * *

Caroline sat at in her seat, facing the stage as the As, Bs and Cs were called out.

"Bonnie Bennett," Mr Bennett spoke into the mic, handing his daughter her certificate and giving her a hug. Caroline cheered loudly, clapping her hands as she stood up. Though despite her cheerful exterior and the thought that they all had made it and that they had all survived, she couldn't help but feel sad. Tyler wasn't there and she thought of where he was now, what he was doing. She wondered if he was thinking of her, just as much as she was thinking of him and she wondered if he had even thought of grad. He wasn't graduating with them and she hoped beyond everything that he was at least a little bit happy, wherever he was.

"Hey," Lydia Froit whispered, nudging Caroline to stand, "We're next."

"Oh sorry," Caroline apologized and got up to follow the line of red in front her.

"Andrew Earle," Mr Bennett called, listing out more names as people cheered, "Melissa Eckhart, Jonathan Evaine, Lisa Febble…"

Earlier, when they had been at the wrecking yard Caroline hadn't thought of graduation. In fact, as those hybrids gained the advantage she had thought of her mom and what she would say when she found her daughter, torn to pieces, in the middle of a dump site. She had thought of Tyler, and their promise of having eternity to find a way to each other. And she had thought of her father, and how she would be reunited with him. But one thing she didn't think of was Klaus, and he surprised her, actually he surprised everyone; appearing out of nowhere and rescuing them. He had smiled at her and she couldn't hold his gaze. She didn't like him, not like that. _Never, _she would tell herself, because even she didn't understand that odd attraction she had towards him. She shook her head—pull, attraction, whatever it was, she wouldn't subject herself to that. He'd killed her friends and terrorized everyone. He was ruthless and had the nerve to act like he deserved an award for admitting it. She wasn't about to get into bed with an enemy—figuratively and literally speaking. She was better than that.

"Caroline Forbes."

Snapping out of her thoughts, the blonde smiled, grinning as she stepped up to the stage and looked to the crowd. She spotted her mother and waved. She had come after she and Alaric got to her house. Caroline hadn't gone to see Damon as she got ready but she knew he was in the spare room, lying unconscious. Human.

Caroline stepped down to the grass after receiving her diploma and headed back to her seat.

It was odd thinking of Damon as anything but an impulsive, unrestrained vampire. Given their history she couldn't at all see him as a fragile non vampire. They had no clue what the effects of the cure were but she wondered if he would just as easily turn himself back after he woke up. Could he even?

She sat in her chair, noticing a few rows up a familiar shaped head over Bonnie's shoulder. The person was speaking to her and he wasn't clad in red like the rest of the graduates were.

"_Isn't that the witch your friend Caroline killed?"_ Caroline heard the accent, just as the guy turned around to reveal Kol. He hadn't been around, and of course he had more time to dig himself out of whatever hole he was buried under. Following where Bonnie's eyes were directed she saw the witch she had killed to save her best friend's life. And then she looked around as Kol mentioned others on the crowd. She didn't see anyone else. When the next group of students got up Bonnie did as well, weaving herself from her row and past Elena who was part of the line of students being called. Elena locked eyes with Caroline and she shook her head, indicating she stay put to get her diploma. Getting to her feet, Caroline followed the witch.

From the entrance of the school, Caroline could hear cheers as other were called. She glanced around, having lost track of where her friend had gone and called out, "Bonnie?"

Making her way down the empty hall she listened in, hearing voices not too far away. One sounded like her friend and the other was no doubt Kol.

"Get back here!" she heard an angry voice shout just as she rounded the corner and almost ran into said witch. They both shrieked, startled.

"Caroline, what are you doing here?"

"You left after being threatened by Kol. I was checking up on you," she knew better than to think Bonnie couldn't handle herself; judging by the shouting behind the closed door Bonnie had come from she was right.

"I'm fine. He's locked in there now."

There was a sudden burst of pain in her head and Caroline winced, shouting. Bonnie flew backwards, skidding across the floor a few feet away.

"Remember me, Caroline?" someone asked behind her, and the blonde turned to see the witch from the seats. She whimpered as she fell to her knees and when it stopped she looked up to see Elena standing over a crumpled form on the floor.

"You guys okay?" she asked, wiping away the blood around her lips.

Caroline sighed and glanced at Bonnie who sat up and said, "You have the best timing."

"What she said," the blonde agreed.

After the ceremony, the school photographer had taken a picture of the entire graduating class and when they all dispersed everyone was saying their goodbyes, crying or joking about. Despite the smallness of their town, a lot of students were already heading out, eager to leave behind their home town as they set out onto a new chapter in life. Caroline had hugged Madison Kilton, her student body vice-president, goodbye when she was grabbed by Elena and dragged towards Bonnie.

She sighed, earnestly looking to her two best friends, and then noticing the shorter girl's expression.

"Aw! Bonnie Bennett, are you crying?" Caroline squealed, holding her friends arm. Elena raised her brows with a smile. Bonnie was never one to cry and she had tears building up in her eyes.

"Bonnie," Elena reached out, giving her shorter friend a hug which Caroline immediately joined in.

"There's no reason to be sad, we're all going to the same college!" the blonde remarked, enthusiastic about the future. And Bonnie let out a sharp breath.

"Um, actually, I didn't even get to send in any applications," Elena said, apologetically.

"What? Elena!"

"I'm sorry! It's just, with everything going on, I didn't get to it," she frowned, but didn't seem as concerned as Caroline would've been. The entire year had been crazy, she didn't blame her.

"Well you could always compel your way in," she suggested.

"Caroline!" Bonnie piped up.

"Isn't that like, cheating?" Elena questioned, but she smiled.

"Not if you're already qualified! Just don't force yourself into Harvard or anything like that," she said as a matter of fact, "I mean, its college! I swear, we _have _to all live together!"

From the corner of her eyes, Caroline noticed the look on Bonnie's face and how her eyes briefly traveled to the grass. Something didn't feel right.

Wiping away the water from her eyes, Bonnie looked to them, "I'm so happy we made it."

"Yeah we did," Caroline cheered, with a huge grin, deciding to confront her friend later, "High school is over."

"And once the veil is closed, we can all finally move on," Elena added.

They each smiled at the notion of moving on but unbeknownst to the others, they were for much different reasons.

* * *

Graduation was officially over and the sun was already setting in the distance. Soon, when the full moon came up, all the dead would go back to where they came from and all the supernatural drama of the day would diminish with them. After the ceremony, Matt had gone back to his home while the rest of them had rendezvoused back at the Forbes residence. The boarding house was still vampire free and Damon had yet to wake up.

Caroline, Lexi, Stefan and Alaric were in the living room, waiting, while Sheriff Forbes offered them drinks or something to snack on. Elena stood at the doorway of the guest room, looking in to a sleeping Damon. Even from where she stood she could hear that distinctive, steady da dum da dum of his heart.

"You're worried," Alaric came towards her, offering a steaming cup of hot chocolate, and looking into the room as well. He leaned onto the door frame opposite of her.

"Well, aren't you?" she asked, though she already knew.

"Yeah," Alaric smiled warmly, "but it's Damon. He'll be fine."'

She didn't know if he meant he would wake up and be fine or if he'd be fine emotionally. She shook her head, "He never wanted to be cured."

"Mhm, but there was no other choice. And he took it himself."

Elena's brows rose, surprised; but then she frowned, taking a sip of her drink, "Klaus was here," at Alaric's reaction she nodded, "yeah. He was the one who rescued Jeremy and the others."

"Does Stefan know?"

"No," she almost whispered, "And it doesn't matter now, does it?"

He stared at her for a moment and agreed, "I guess not."

A silence filtered between them.

"I'm glad you came back, Ric," she said suddenly, blinking away any oncoming tears, "I missed you guys."

Alaric chuckled, lifting his arms so he could bring one half of the two kids he had begun to see as family. He muttered over her head, "I missed you too. But don't ever forget, I'll always be looking out for you. No matter what."

She nodded, "I know."

"Congratulations by the way," he added.

"Thanks," she said, though it still didn't feel like something to celebrate at the moment. She looked into the room when they pulled apart, "I hope he wakes up so you guys can say goodbye this time."

He laughed, "He better."

Elena chuckled, "I'm going to say goodbye to Jere. He's at the school so…"

"Goodbye," he gave an affirmative nod and her expression softened.

"Bye, Ric."

Leaving her former teacher where they had stood she went into the living room, leaving her mug on one of the tables. When Stefan saw her his expression dropped somewhat, "Elena?"

"Jeremy stayed behind with Bonnie to say goodbye, and I'm going to try and catch him before he's gone," she said, feeling awkward. She directed her gaze to the dead blonde, "bye, Lexi. It was good seeing you."

She smiled, "You too."

Getting to her car, Elena drove to school. She noticed the way the moon hung in the sky, shining in its full form. Bonnie had probably already started and she probably had very little time. When she got to the school she headed straight towards the basement. She had only begun walking through the boiler room when she heard a clatter behind her. She whipped her head back seeing no one but when she turned Kol stood in front of her.

"Well well well, speaking of unfinished business," immediately he attacked, grabbing her and throwing her onto the floor. Elena just about only had time to see Kol lung towards her and she put her hands up, shutting her eyes. A few long seconds later when nothing came she looked around cautiously. Kol wouldn't have just left her. That must mean he was gone, Bonnie must've started the spell. Though before she could go anywhere she was attacked once more, and this time she was met with an identical face as she was flung into a pipe.

"Happy graduation, cupcake," Katherine smiled, stiletto heels stepping towards her as she grabbed her by the back of the neck, pulling open the door back into the hall and throwing her out. She landed on the floor.

"What are you doing?" Elena demanded, through gritted teeth as her doppelganger approached.

Katherine tilted her head, "Isn't it obvious?"

Pulling her from the floors, she turned, using her vampiric speed to spin and fling Elena into the lockers. She landed on her feet but when she attempted to move, Katherine lifted her leg, shifting her foot so that it was on Elena's neck. Elena grabbed her shoe, trying to push her off. With a calculating look Katherine spoke, "I'm bored, and it has been _such _a long day."

"You and me both," Elena struggled with the force of Katherine's foot, but when she twisted, Elena reached out, pushing the older vampire onto the floor who rolled away.

"You know, it's funny," Katherine remarked, getting to her feet and advancing. With every step she took, Elena took one back, "You think your life is the worst."

Suddenly she ran forward, shoving Elena into the lockers again. Elena looked around, racking her brain to find anything that could help her. She decided by ripping off a locker door and hitting Katherine across the face. When she went down, Elena's heart leap at her advantage and she swung one more time. She heard the faintest sound of cracking ribs as she hit her on the side but Katherine held on, seemingly unfazed.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you were shocked that it's not," she finished.

"What? Like yours?" Elena retaliated, trying to pull the metal door away, "Everything that has happened to you—your _bad day_—is nothing short of your fault."

"My fault?" Katherine stopped, scoffing at her before she easily tugged the door from her hands and hit her with it. Staggering back, she saw her throw the metal door aside and came towards her, grabbing her by the hair and tilting her head so that she could look at her. She whispered, irate, "You have no idea what I've been through."

Elena saw a fist before she dropped onto her back. She could taste the blood in her mouth and feel her broken nose slowly healing itself. Katherine stood over her, twirling a wooden rod in her hand, "Little miss perfect."

She gripped the wooden rod with both hands and Elena breathed through her mouth, feeling the sharp end of the stick jab her in the stomach. Katherine spoke as she jerked it out in an angle, intentionally leaving splinters, "I may no longer be seventeen but even I have to admit _you_ are one lucky, ungrateful little bitch. You see not everyone is as fortunate as you. They don't get a graduation, or a prom, or you know, a life." she stabbed her once more, this time through her ribs, just below her heart. She twisted.

Grunting, Elena held the stick, trying her best to steady it and prevent it from moving any further. Through her breaths she muttered, "I never took anything from you."

She could see the light in Katherine's eyes shift as she raised her brows. She was anything but confused when she said, "You didn't?"

Yanking the rod out Katherine reached down, her hand tearing through flesh as Elena gasped. She could feel her hand wrap around her heart. Her eyes widened and Katherine spoke, keeping her gaze. It held disdain, "Goodbye, little girl."

Her heart seized as her doppelganger squeezed it, and almost instantly Elena's eyes shut. She didn't want to die. She wasn't prepared to die. She had so much to look forward to, and she hated to admit it but Katherine was right, she had so much she wasted.

This couldn't end like this.

There was a sudden rush of wind and then nothing.

She breathed in.

The pressure in her chest was gone as it began to heal. Elena blinked as she opened her eyes. In her daze and confusion she noticed that she was once again alone. The hallway was empty and the only sound she could hear was the soft rumbling of the vents.

She breathed out.

She didn't hold back her sob.

* * *

Alaric stood over Damon's bed looking at his friend. He held two tumblers of bourbon, placing one onto the bedside table and taking a sip from the other. Elena had left a while ago and he had gazed outside enough to see that the moon was indeed hanging in the sky, full and pale. Stefan had gone back to the boarding house with Lexi to pick up Silas and bury him. Damon hadn't woken up. He hadn't even so much as stirred since he had taken the cure. The only good sign they had gotten was that his fever had almost completely left and the venom filled veins had receded. He just thought he would wake up sooner so that he could at least say goodbye properly.

"Hey, buddy," he greeted. Maybe whatever state he was in right now, he could hear him, "look, stop being a dick and wake up. I thought maybe we could at least say goodbye."

When he didn't move or twitch or respond in any way, Alaric continued, "I know you never wanted this—to take the cure I mean. You, the big badass vamp. But even now I know you'll still take care of them. You may hate being human, but it's not all bad. And besides, maybe you can turn back after you're done. Just don't do anything stupid in the meantime, like get yourself killed. I'm sure there are answers to questions you guys might have. Take care of yourself, buddy, okay?" he paused and added, "And I meant what I said, even if you can't wake up—stop being a dick. You know what I'm talking about."

He chuckled to himself, raising the glass in his hand and clinking it to Damon's untouched one, "To you. And to making the most out of your human life."

As he downed the contents he noticed Damon stir. He stopped, putting down his glass and leaning forward, "Damon?"

He reached forward.

Damon felt the warmth of a hand on his shoulder as his eyes opened. But as he looked around he was alone in an empty room. Slightly, his brows knitted together as he slowly drifted back into unconsciousness.

* * *

Stefan got out of the van followed by Lexi. He pulled the garage door open and tested stepping in, successfully putting his foot in.

"We can get in?" Lexi asked and Stefan nodded.

"I'll get the safe," he said moving to one corner where a giant black safe stood, "Get Silas, he's in there."

He indicated to a box Lexi lifted open and reached in. Stefan grabbed both side of the safe, grunting as he used both hands to lift it from the ground and walk towards the car. Lexi pulled open the back door stuffing Silas stiff form into one corner as Stefan pushed the safe into the other side. She came to his side as he lifted it off the ground and the car creaked a bit at the weight.

"Is that it?" she asked.

He shook his head, "We still need to get some cement blocks."

Lexi chuckled, "Overkill much?"

"Well I wouldn't want him resurfacing anytime soon, would you?"

"Hey don't ask me, I'm already dead remember?" she points out, "if he does come back, he won't be my problem."

Stefan laughed, as they headed into the garage to get the blocks, "Right."

Once they loaded the car they headed onto the road towards the ravine he remembered going to as a kid. The water had been deep; deep enough to have father deem it dangerous and unfit for his sons.

"So what're your plan now, mister graduate?"

He glanced to her with a tug at one side of his lips, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, Silas is gone and this whole veil thing will be a thing of the past. What're your plans?"

He shook his head, "I don't know," because he didn't. At the moment, even without this supernatural veil situation, his life at Mystic Falls hadn't been the same for a long time. He could go. Travel the world again. Find another fresh start away from everything. Even for a little while. But ultimately he knew he couldn't do that. Not with Damon human.

Lexi tilted his head, "Damon?"

Stefan glanced to her, sometimes he wondered if she could read his mind. He chuckled, "How did you know?"

"How did I not? Its written all over your face," she laughed herself, "So what? You're going to take care of him now? Fend off any vengeful people after him?"

"Well that's one way to put it," he raised his brows.

There was a short pause before Lexi asked, "What about Elena?"

"What's with all the questions?" he asked with a sigh, he didn't want to talk about it, she had been a topic of their catch-up discussion already and right then he didn't feel like dwelling on it. Especially when Lexi was going to leave soon, but he did want to say one thing, "I don't know but I meant what I said."

Lexi tilted her head as if in question and Stefan glanced to her. She knew what he was talking about but she looked somewhat puzzled.

"That I would go back to her in a heartbeat," he rehashed, turning back onto the road, "I mean, what if she's the one?"

Lexi sighed, also turning back to the road as he pulled off of it and stopped just before a cliff. The question hung in the air as he parked and when she didn't say anything he got out of the car, heading to the back to get Silas. An odd feeling in his stomach bubbled and he couldn't shake the look on Lexi's face. He pulled out the safe and opened it just as the blonde came around the van.

"Put some blocks in it," he instructed, feeling awkward. He'd felt a million ways around Lexi but awkward was never one of them. It unsettled him as he watched her grab the cement, wordlessly, and go over to the open safe.

She put two she held inside, "Look, Stefan, I don't know what to say except I don't believe in that kind of thing."

Stefan frowned at her and looked to the sky; to the full moon as he pulled out Silas and dropped him the ground. When he heard the clatter of cement his frown deepened, "What the-."

Bending over he pulled open the cloth, finding pieces of broken, cracked cement. Frantically he shoved away cement piece by piece.

"Stefan?" Lexi said and he turned, panicked.

"Silas," he said, "Silas is gone."

The blonde tilted her head eyeing him, and if it was possible he felt more uncomfortable. She was smiling.

"You know, I was wondering when you all would figure it out," she said, sitting casually on the bumper of the van, swinging her feet slightly. His brows furrowing together as he refused to believe what his mind was piecing together. She smiled, "I guess I'm much better at this than I thought."

"Where's Lexi?" was the first thing that he could say.

The blonde shrugged, "Well after those witches stormed your house and killed her, I'm sure I left her somewhere in a ditch? In the forest, perhaps?"

Stefan felt his fist curl, but he had no idea how to progress with this situation.

"Don't be rude, she's already crossed the veil again."

"What do you want, Silas?"

She clicked her tongue, pretending to think, "For starters: stop calling me Silas."

"What?"

"My name is not Silas," she said getting up, disappearing from sight and appearing to Stefan's left. This time she was a he, his face rough and burnt looking. His face was dark, hidden in the shadows of the trees.

Stefan shook his head, coming to his senses, "You were stone. Bonnie did a spell, and it worked. I was there."

"Funny thing about spells," he said in a gravelly voice, "spells are bound by nature and nature requires balance. So every spell has a loophole. The spell that turned me to stone was bound by a witch and when that witch died, the spell was broken."

"But Bonnie's not dead."

He laughed, the voice echoing to his right where Elena now stood. Silas. That wasn't Elena, that was Silas… or whatever her, his name was. She spoke, "I've been dying for someone to figure it out. The mystery of "Silas," but it seems time is the ultimate concealer."

"What are you talking about?"

"That story," She smirked, stepping forward, "about Qetsiyah, Silas and another woman? It's not a very accurate retelling. Qetsiyah didn't create the immortality spell two thousand years ago, I did. I can never die. And nature needed to find a balance, a version of me that could die," she paused and whispered, "a shadow self. A doppelganger."

"So this is finally your true face?" Stefan's eyes narrowed, "You're another one of them?"

"Not just any other one," she slowly shook her head and he finish her thought.

"The original."

He had the sudden need to head back home or to the Forbes and warn everybody. They had had it all wrong and it seemed nothing was over.

She smiled, advancing towards him, "My name is Irina Petrova."

Gripping a stake she plunged it into his stomach and he doubled over. She continued from her earlier statement, "Second, seeing as you were just about to throw me over a cliff, I think I should return the favour."

He struggled but she easily shoved him into the open safe, twisting the stake, and roughly pulling it from him.

"That's for using my cure," she hissed and her hand held him place as her other rested on the safe door. She smirked to him one last time, "I'll give the historians credit though. You did get that love triangle thing right."

Panic rose inside of him as he reached out, the door almost crushing his fingers.

"No!" he shouted, hearing the turn of the dial and the clicks of the lock. Gravity dropped as the safe turned top over bottom and with a crash he felt it sinking. He felt himself sinking. Quickly water poured in through the slits of the door and frantically, he pounded his fist to no avail. The water surrounded him. It wasn't long before he inhaled a gulp, struggling and inevitably, forcing more down his throat. His lungs burned as water flooded in. He gasped. He didn't know how long he'd struggled until his vision began to blur. His senses were numbing and Stefan felt himself still. Everything went black.

* * *

**A/N: **So that's the conclusion to that. I actually hope that I can finish this before October, when season 5 starts, but at this rate that's only a hope. Aha well I'll try. Reviews will be loved! :)


	3. Aftermath

**Chapter Three: Aftermath**

**A/N:** Thanks guys for the reviews/alerts/favs guys, they're honestly my motivation :)

* * *

Jeremy didn't bother to wipe the tears in his eyes as he knelt down. Bonnie lay on the ground, her hair sprawled and her expression slack. She was so still and he almost couldn't find it in himself to reach out to her.

If she hadn't just spoken to him—hadn't just said her goodbye—a couple minutes ago, he could convince himself that this was all a dream. A really horrible, messed up dream and he would wake up any time soon. Bonnie couldn't be gone. She couldn't be dead. And to think that she had died to save him—to bring him back to life.

He held the back of his hand to his lips, choking on his silent sobs. This was unfair. He would rather stay dead than have her trade her life for his.

"Jeremy?"

He turned at the voice and faced Elena; he noticed her eyes were red already and her voice had been hoarse. He didn't hold back this time when another flood of hurt crashed through his heart and his tears flowed down his face. He didn't say anything. He just turned back to Bonnie—his Bonnie—and listened as Elena gasped, rushing to her fallen friend.

"Oh my god, Bonnie!" she cried, "What happened? Jeremy, what happened?!"

He heard his sister's voice fading into the back of his mind as he stared at Bonnie's face. She was gone. And the thought that it was his fault left him numb.

* * *

There was a buzzing in the distance that grew closer and louder.

Damon opened his eyes.

He breathed in.

The sunlight filtered through the window and the open curtains. After taking a moment to wake up fully, Damon sat up. It was eerily quiet and it unnerved him. Since when was the world so quiet? And where the hell was he?

His eyes squinted as he got to his feet, and his toes curled at the cold hardwood floor. The place looked familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. The plain but somewhat frilly white curtains. The comfortable but faded bed sheets. The white walls and the plain empty vanity on one side of the room.

He flung open the door to the hall and suddenly realized that he was at Liz's house.

"Oh, you're awake," Caroline said, standing in the hall in a pair of short shorts and a tank top.

"I am," he frowned, moving towards the living room and seeing Jeremy and Elena asleep on separate couches, "what the hell happened?"

"You don't remember?" she asked as if he should know. As if something big happened. Her expression only made him want to shake her and tell him already.

"Of course I do," he rolled his eyes, "No. Why in the world would I be asking then?"

Her expression dropped into a frown and flatly she said, "No one can get into your house cause you took the cure."

"What?!"

Caroline snorted at his expression and headed to the kitchen. She shushed him as she passed by, "Keep it down. It's six in the morning."

The day before, Vaughn, Alaric, Stefan and the cure. He suddenly remembered it and he felt a little sick. That's why it was so quiet, and why it did feel a little bit colder than usual. What the hell did he get himself into this time? Human. How could he live _human?_ He looked to his hands as if they had changed but in all honesty they hadn't; not the feeling, not the touch, nothing. The only distinctive thing he knew would happen now is that he'd grow old, and he would be weak until he died.

He swallowed the lump in his throat at the thought. After he became a vampire he never once looked back or even thought about growing old. Who in their right mind would want to grow _old? _He shook his head of those thoughts. He wasn't about to start now. He would find a way out of this.

"Damon?" Elena got up, rubbing sleep from her eyes as she rushed forward and hugged him, "You're okay."

"Of course I am," he smirked, but it didn't reach his eyes.

She noticed his expression, "I'm sorry, I know you never wanted this."

"Why are you apologizing? Stefan gave it to me, and I was dumb enough to take it," he breathed, "Where is Stefan anyways?"

Elena looked around with a yawn, she was still tired, "He's not here?"

He shook his head.

"Sherriff Forbes said that he had left to drop off Silas," she frowned, running her hand through her messy hair, "what if somethings happened?"

Damon shook his head again, "No. That can't be. He probably heard what you told Ric about Klaus. He's most likely off brooding somewhere."

He chuckled, nothing could've happened to Stefan. Everyone threatening their lives from going back to normal were gone and Silas had been incased in _cement_. He was confident if something had, they would've heard of it already.

"Wait, you heard that?" she paused, pertaining to her confession with Alaric about Klaus' late appearance.

"Yes, unfortunately."

She looked down, as if it were her fault and his face scrunched up apologizing for his tone, "It's not your fault. If anything it's Klaus' fault for not picking up his phone."

"So you're okay with this?" she asked and he wished she hadn't.

"Ask me again later."

There was a short silence that filtered in with birds chirping outside. Damon frowned at the metaphorical way Elena twiddled her thumbs. It was like she didn't know what to say. At least nothing that wouldn't warrant an uncomfortable response from him. It was almost as if she saw him like he was different. And he was. Sort of. Though he was the same in personality, this was new territory for them.

She was just getting used to him being human, after all it was probably as obvious to her as it was to him. Hell, _he_ still had to start accepting what he was now. Unless he found a way out. He shook his head, determined as he refused to raise any hope, and mentally he moved on from his thoughts.

"So, Barbie tells me you guys can't get into the boarding house? How about we go fix that?" he suggested. Even if it were only six in the morning he didn't want to go back to sleep and he doubted that Elena did either. With a nod, she made her way to the kitchen to say goodbye to Caroline. Jeremy was left on the couch as Elena insisted he get some well-intended rest.

Her car waited for them outside and they drove towards the Salvatore's home.

"Not to infringe on being rude but Jeremy? Wasn't he-?" he made a slicing sound as he motioned across his neck with a finger.

Elena's expression dropped and she nodded, "Bonnie brought him back."

"Our little witch has some tricks up her sleeve?" his brows raised, "Maybe she could've found a way to heal me without the cure."

She bit her lips and Damon narrowed his eyes.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked softly, her whole demeanor finally getting to him. Initially he had thought it was because she had just woken up, but now he could tell it was something else.

She shook her head, turning the car right and then sighing. She didn't say anything and he had a feeling that this included tears. Damon was never good with tears, but this was Elena, he couldn't not ask.

"Elena?"

When the car parked into the driveway she got out and immediately he followed, almost scoffing at the way she was trying to avoid him. He stopped as she reached for the door, "Really? What are you going to do? Barge through your invitation?"

When she stopped he stepped towards her and noticed her shoulders. She was crying and he almost cringed at how to deal with this. Almost. No matter how many women Damon Salvatore had had around his arm he'd never had to deal with crying. At least not really. It was either compel it away or run away, and he couldn't do either with Elena.

He would've ran over to her and wrapped her in his arms but he didn't. So from where he stood he let out a breath that sounded almost like a sigh, preparing his next words, but Elena shook her head and spoke, "Bonnie's… Bonnie's dead, and I'm sorry, Damon but I just—I kind of want to be alone," she turned her head but still didn't meet his eyes, "I need to think."

His heart dropped but he understood.

"You're invited," he muttered and she heard because in the next second she was gone and the front door hung open. Instinctively, reaching out with his ears he heard the thumping of his heart and the distant sound of birds and nothing else. He couldn't tell if he was angered or disappointed or just plain frustrated.

He couldn't think of a worst time to be reminded of how human he was than right then.

* * *

A few hours later Jeremy sat outside in the terrace of the boarding house. After waking up and having breakfast served to him at Caroline's house, he had been picked up by Elena and promptly left alone to ponder his own thoughts. He didn't want to talk to anyone. And he had shown that by speaking only when spoken to.

Though he wasn't willing to talk to anyone he did want to speak to one person: Bonnie.

But try as he might, she wasn't answering. She wasn't responding to any call he signaled out whenever he was trying to talk to the dead. And he didn't feel any ghost-like presence around. He felt horribly normal and it scared him. How was he supposed to talk to her then? How were they supposed to communicate? The thought that he would never be able to talk to yet another person that he'd loved and lost scared him so much, and he had no idea what to do.

"Bonnie, please," he begged, closing his eyes. A small breeze shifted through his hair and when he opened them he could tell he wasn't alone. Hopeful, he turned, only to have his eyes land on Stefan. His expression was eerily blank.

"Jeremy," he said and for a second the young man almost thought he was a ghost.

"Stefan," he greeted, though he didn't know why he felt the sudden need to be cautious around him. No, that was the hunter in him, he was still projecting those must-kill-vampire thoughts and he shook his head.

"I need you to do me a favour," Stefan said, patting Jeremy on his arm before glancing to the door that led back into the house, "tell Elena and Damon that I'm leaving town."

"Why don't you tell them yourself?" Jeremy frowned, gesturing to the boarding house, "They're inside."

"I know. It's just… I'd rather not say goodbye. It's too hard."

Goodbye? Leaving? Hadn't Damon just turned human, and hadn't Elena just lost a friend? Jeremy never knew Stefan to be one to abandon the people he cared about.

"Where are you going?"

Stefan shrugged, "I don't know. But I'll return as soon as I can."

Jeremy looked towards the house, his sister was inside and he knew she would kill him if he just let Stefan leave without saying goodbye in person, if at all.

"Stefan, I don't think-," he trailed off seeing that the vampire had vanished. With a frown, Jeremy looked around. He was nowhere in sight, but Jeremy didn't make a move to get up. Stefan was probably long gone by now, and doing anything wouldn't stop him. Without thinking about it his thoughts shifted back to Bonnie.

* * *

Klaus carefully stroke his brush over a curve of paint on his canvas. Lightly, with his wrist he imitated the line, going over it again and again until he was satisfied. When he was done he stepped back, taking in the entirety of his painting.

With a sigh he placed his brush on the table with his paints and rubbed his hands, ineffectively dusting off dry paint. He had been in Mystic Falls for only a day and already he was bored. The quaint little town he had been born in was starting to lose its appeal on him and he itched to get back to New Orleans. There was Marcel, and with him his new challenge; his new goal. Though before leaving the place he would soon call home Elijah had reprimanded him, forcing him to make nice with their baby sister in order to get her to come as well. That's why he had come back. Well that and Caroline, he knew graduation was just around the corner and he had a gift for her. One he knew she would much appreciate.

He paused, suddenly hearing Rebekah waking up.

The next second he was at her door, watching as she stirred. She was still in her torn up clothes from the day before, but he had already washed off most of her blood. When her eyes opened they moved to him instantly like a magnet.

"Rebekah, love," he spoke, coming into her room, "how are you feeling?"

"Like I was mauled by nine hybrids who were looking for you," she said, assessing herself and sitting up. When it hit her that Klaus hadn't been in town just days ago she frowned, "What are you doing here, Nik? Making plans to ruin more lives?"

"Why the opposite actually. As bad as you think of me, I do have a heart, dear sister," Klaus replied, though only mildly offended.

She scoffed, "Well you can leave now. No one wants you here and Elijah tells me you have _other_ matters to attend to. No doubt to serve your current decade's goal."

Klaus frowned at that. Was that it? His life's wishes, only small meaningless goals to her? Rebekah always was one to act spoiled. If the attention wasn't on her she would ignore you, and claim your intentions wrong. He groaned, "Okay, don't say I never tried. Elijah forced me to come here to mend things with you but it seems that's impossible at the moment."

"You _tried_?" she asked, incredulous, "You've spoken but two sentences to me and you've tried?"

"I saved your life!" he retaliated.

She narrowed her eyes, "I would've been fine, Nik. I didn't need your help!"

"Oh, I think Matt Donovan would've disagreed. And as I'm sure you know, he isn't like us," he pointed out and then breathed. This wasn't going to get anywhere and despite himself he knew he still needed to extend the same invitation Elijah had given her, "Rebekah, love, I didn't come here to argue. I came here to ask you to come to New Orleans with me."

"No. I'm going to say to you what I told Elijah and it's that I owe you _nothing_," she emphasized, "Family means nothing to you, and nothing will change that. Not this child and not anyone."

The corners of Klaus' lips turned down but she continued on, "You once told me that I meant nothing to you. That I was nothing to you. Well you know what, _you _are nothing to me. Not now, and never again! So if you're done pretending to care, run back to that new town of yours because you're not getting _anything_ from me."

Klaus swallowed, blinking. He didn't move though, and it wasn't because he was too shocked.

"_Leave!_" she shouted, thrusting her finger towards her door.

With one final frown, he blurred away, not bothering to shut her door. Rebekah could be so dramatic. Nothing she said she meant—though in the back of his head he knew she may mean at least some of it—and even so she would come to her senses sooner or later. And when she did maybe then would he apologize also.

'_After all, we have all of eternity to forgive and forget_,' he thought, heading to his car.

* * *

Two days. Two days since high school had officially ended.

And Klaus. He hadn't left Caroline's thoughts since graduation—no, his _words_ hadn't left her thoughts since graduation. When she had gone to drop off her gown he had appeared to her, offering to walk her home in light of recent events but also to give her a gift. One she hadn't expected him to give so willingly.

She was constantly surprised by him but she knew it was only because she held no expectations of him.

"_My gift to you. Tyler is free, he can return home."_

Tyler could come back. She had almost cried at that promise, while at the same time also skeptical that he was actually serious. It wasn't until his following words did she feel like he meant what he said.

"_He's your first love, I intend to be your last."_

It was her assurance that Tyler was safe, but they also gave new light to Klaus. Caroline always knew that he had fallen for her, or at least he claimed to, but she also always thought he could never _really_ love her. In his own twisted way maybe, but not the right, selfless way. Not the way love should be. And despite her initial knowledge of how he was, he had proven her wrong and she couldn't help but be grateful. She may not love him back, but she had to admit that he was slowly taking steps to help her begin to even consider thinking of him in that way.

"Caroline?" Elena spoke, breaking her from her thoughts.

The blonde hadn't realized that she had already gotten out of her car and went into the boarding house, too lost in her thoughts. Later, she settled, she would somehow find a way to look for Tyler. Pushing her thoughts aside, Caroline's expression immediately softened at the sight of her friend.

"Elena," she hugged her friend tightly, "Are you okay?"

Her own words reminded her of all the times she had asked the exact same thing the summer of Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert's passing. She almost shivered, how was it that they kept losing everyone they loved?

Elena shook her head and wiped a tear from her cheek. She asked, "How about you? Are you okay?"

Caroline sighed, she didn't want to shake her head. She didn't want to indicate anything. Bonnie was gone and as much as it hurt Caroline had yet to shed a tear. She wasn't dwelling on it. She didn't want to. And if she wasn't so concerned, she wouldn't have checked on Elena because she knew that all the open mourning would remind her more of her friend. And of everyone's loss.

She pursed her lips and thankfully Elena got the message. Subtly, she steered their conversation.

"Jeremy's a wreck. He hasn't talked to me, and he doesn't think I know what he's doing but I do," she said, pulling her friend so that they moved towards the stairs and eventually to the room Elena had claimed. Elena frowned, worried, "he's trying to talk to Bonnie, and his disappointment has me thinking she hasn't answered. I mean what if Bonnie's moved on?"

Caroline nodded, that was possible wasn't it? She couldn't bear to think her friend was stuck in the supernatural purgatory of things. Though, having been around while the veil was down indicated that she had to be on the other side.

"If she hasn't answered maybe she _has_ moved on," Caroline said.

Elena sighed, eyeing the other vampire, "I know that's just wishful thinking, Care. You don't have to pretend like its right," Caroline apologized with a look, and the brunette continued, "I just wish Jeremy doesn't hold on to anything like he did with Anna."

They shared a look and something suddenly occurred to the blonde. She gasped, "Oh, speaking of Jeremy, my mom's working on a cover story to explain his sudden resuscitation."

"Resurrection?" Elena corrected.

"Yeah," her brows lowered, unfazed, "And she's helping Mr. Bennett with the umm… funeral."

They both became quiet as they sat on Elena's bed. It seemed funerals were the new special Mystic Falls events, and neither liked that change. It wasn't appealing, nor was it a happy occasion. Caroline frowned. It seemed even in the light of happy ending like graduation, new beginnings only came with tragedy.

* * *

Matt parked his truck and looked to the ominous Mikaelson mansion. From where he sat it looked abandoned, like no one was living there but he knew one person who did. After the incident at the yard a couple days before he couldn't bring himself to stop thinking about the blonde Original, and in all honesty he had no idea if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

What had she confessed before she kissed him? Do the thing you're most afraid of? Did she really care about him like that? Could she care about him like that? After everything her family had put his friends through he couldn't stop from seeing them as anything but monsters. But at the yard, her actions spoke for themselves. Rebekah had gotten hurt, and though she didn't "officially" risk her life, since Originals can only be killed in certain ways, she had basically done just that, if not better. And all so that he would have a better chance to live and see another day.

She could've left. Heck, she _should've_ left but she hadn't. Once Klaus had rescued him and his friends, he had picked up his sister and vanished. Matt didn't know if he should've come any earlier but he figured a couple days were enough for Rebekah to heal, and hopefully see to it that he didn't run into her vicious older brother. And a couple days gave him time to fully assess his loss over yet another friend. He hadn't fully mourned but he would be lying if he said what happened to Bonnie didn't open his eyes at grabbing opportunities that appeared to him.

Matt got out of his truck and rang the doorbell, taking a deep breath as he did so. He was here to check up on her, but he also felt a little nervous. What do you say to someone who saved your life and may as well have died through the process?

After a few minutes he reached up to press the button again but the door swung open and Rebekah's face told him she never expected to see him there. At all.

"Matt," she greeted, half confused and half surprised.

"Rebekah," he smiled, nodding, "I um… I was just coming to see how you were doing after... well you know."

She smiled, breaking out of her daze, "Thank you. I'm good, how about you?"

He nodded and a short silence hung over them.

Her smile slowly disappeared as she spoke, "Look, I know we were under duress and all. So… whatever plans we were making…," she bit her lips, trailing off.

"No," he said automatically and she nodded, understandingly. He shook his, "No I meant, no," how would he proceed with this? After everything she had done for him and the fact that he knew she really was trying, he still couldn't find it in himself to see her and not associate her with her family. But he also didn't want to not be… friends with her. Because whatever feelings she'd confessed with that kiss at the wrecking yard, that's how he saw her or at least that's how he should start.

"Mystic Falls is roaming with vampires and the supernatural. After that incident, I know that I want to keep my life supernatural free… and that includes my love life," he sighed, stating the rules he had felt himself bend towards after witnessing the lives of his friend the past couple years. She nodded and looked just about to say goodnight and close the door when he continued, "But you're my friend and… whatever happens on the road, stays on the road…"

"I'm sorry but are you saying that you would, you would want to go?" she asked, not being able to hold in her sudden smile.

"I'm saying I've never set foot outside of this town and I think it's time that I start truly living. You did promise to be my tour guide."

A short laugh broke through her smile and he couldn't help but return it. She nodded, "Okay."

Moving aside to invite him in, he stepped through the threshold without a second thought. He could keep her company in her big lonely mansion, just as much as she seemed she would keep him company anywhere else. Though his thoughts were still a little jumbled he felt as if he could trust Rebekah. She earned at least that.

And as of then they had a long trip ahead of them. Though it may be selfish, he couldn't wait to get out of Mystic Falls and temporarily leave behind all the baggage that came with such a small town.

* * *

_It was dark. _

_Katherine blinked, squinting through the mass of black before her. There was nothing, even as she tried to reach out. She couldn't breathe and she felt stationary—like a statue. _

_Slowly, she heard the sound of splitting stone, cracking louder and louder in her ears. But what was more puzzling was that she felt it on herself, like _she _was cracking open. Rigidly she felt herself break free and light began to filter in through her lids. It was so bright it hurt, but she reached out. She got to her feet easily, feeling whatever was encasing her shedding away. _

_Without her own accord Katherine began to walk, the darkness becoming engulfed by the light and soon she was at a meadow. The grass was tall and three kids ran around in the middle chasing each other. Two girls and a boy. None of them looked any older than ten years of age. The boy had a stick in his hand and he roared, while the other two laughed at his antics._

_Katherine narrowed her eyes, moving closer still. _

_A look of concentration came over the little boy's features and he thrust his hand holding the stick into the air. A small burst of fire exploded from the end of it, disappearing as quickly as it came. Katherine watched as the two girls clapped, grinning to one another. The boy jumped from the rock he stood on and pointed the stick to one of the girls._

"_Okay, Irina, you try," he smiled. Though as the girl reached for it they all paused, turning to look at Katherine with wide eyes. _

"_Oh no," one of them breathed. Katherine took one step back. Getting to their feet they ran towards her, fear in their eyes. The little boy ran directly at her but instead of tackling her, he ran through. _

_She gasped. _

Katherine breathed as her eyes fluttered open.

'_What was that?' _she thought but an instant hallow ringing in her head made her wince and she reached up to her temples, her dream momentarily forgotten. She heard and felt the clatter of metal as she massaged her head. Her fingers felt stiff and she noticed her breaths were slower and longer than usual but that wasn't what caught her attention the most. It was the chains around her wrist and puzzled, she glanced at them and then around the room.

"What the hell?" she muttered, her eyes dropped to the cold concrete floor, the metal door and most importantly the various potted vervaine plants on the shelves that lined the walls of the room. Her eyes narrowed, but the dried blood on her hand reminded her of what she remembered last. She was at the school. With Elena. And she had been just about to tear the ungrateful whore's heart out when… her mind went blank. What had happened?

Katherine couldn't remember, and the suffocating atmosphere she was in wasn't helping any. She pulled at the chains, noticing how the other end of them were barred into the wall just above her head. Placing her hands on the floor she pushed herself up, only to fall back down like lead. She was too weak to get up. No matter how tolerant she had become of vervaine, breathing it in for however long she'd been there couldn't be good.

The door creaked open and a man stepped in. He was handsome with short blonde hair and deep brown eyes.

"You're awake," he commented, pulling up the only chair in the room and sitting on it.

She felt the need to back up and melt into the wall as she held his gaze because despite its common colour they were hypnotizing. And in them she could feel he held cruelty.

"Wh-," she coughed, her voice rough, but that didn't stop her from sounding any less malicious, "who are you?"

He held out a bottle of water, placing it on the floor in front of her.

He smiled, "In truth, by my appearance, my name would be Silas."

She eyed the bottle of water but didn't move, she narrowed her eyes at the stranger and at his words. So this was Silas, but what was that he said? By his appearance? What did that even mean? He stared at her silently, doing nothing to indicate any further explanation.

"What the hell do you want then?" she asked, her gaze dropping, "what am I doing here?"

A slow smile spread across his face, and it was a moment before he responded, "You intrigue me."

"What?" Katherine frowned and he stood, kneeling in front of her as if to take a closer look.

"Your existence," his voice was husky as he leaned in and she moved back, her head hitting the wall. As if she wasn't already having a hard time breathing. He eyed her and then tilted his head, "You're the same and yet you're different. I can tell."

Different? The same? She bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from asking. '_What the hell is he going on about?'_

Leaning back, he stood as a smile graced his face. He smoothed her hair as he spoke, walking away.

She flinched, as the door shut behind him, his last words echoing on the concrete walls as if she had said anything aloud to begin with, "All in due time, Katerina."


	4. F is for Funerals

**Chapter Four: F is for Fun-erals**

**A/N: **Ye ask and ye received! Lol no, actually I don't know why but this chapter came real easy when I started writing. It all kinda just spewed outta my head… and then I got blocked for like two days :[

* * *

"Welcome, girls, thank you for coming," Mr. Bennett greeted at the door of the church, passing a bulletin to Elena. She and Caroline gave him tight smiles as they entered the lobby. His eyes were red but he was standing straight, offering his hand.

"Of course, Mr. Bennett," she replied.

"We are _so_ sorry for your loss," Caroline joined in, grasping the darker man's hand in condolence.

"Not just my loss. You girls were my daughter's best friends, I just wish I knew what happened," the man smiled tightly but his eyes were on them, as if asking for the explanation. Elena knew Bonnie's dad deserved the truth, but she wasn't about to start explaining how her best friend had died trying to revive her brother with magic she knew he had a distaste for.

"We wish we knew as well," Caroline spoke up before Elena could. The blonde held her friend's arm, ushering her on into the sanctuary where everyone was gathering, and settling into pews. Elena glanced at Caroline sideways. She'd been doing that a lot lately: being jumpy, avoiding. For the last couple of days Caroline had been acting odd, to say the least. She had come to comfort but Elena had yet to see her comforted. She was concerned, in her experience, it was never a good thing when people suppressed their feeling. Grief, most of all, the one thing—as Stefan would say—could cripple. Though every time she tried to bring up the subject of Bonnie, that didn't relate to herself, Caroline would veer the conversation away. Sometimes, not even as subtle as she could be. Elena didn't know what it was, but it seemed she wouldn't be the one to coax her blonde friend to grieve properly.

Caroline picked a pew and sat while Elena looked towards Jeremy and Matt who had been walking behind them. Now Jeremy was the complete opposite. To say that she wasn't now constantly worrying about her brother was an understatement. She didn't expect him to drop down sobbing but he hadn't been himself at all. Not like how she knew he mourned. He didn't talk to anyone and Elena could say that there was one thing both Caroline and Jeremy had in common, and that was that they were shutting everyone out. Already she could feel them slipping. And Jeremy—she couldn't lose him again. She hadn't been able to handle it the first time, how could she do it twice?

With a sigh Elena glanced to the front of the church where a closed casket lay. She swallowed the flood of emotions that crashed against her heart because now wasn't the time. She had been crying all week and breaking down in the aisle of the church before the service even began was something she wouldn't do. Not to Bonnie. Everyone there proved to her that she wasn't the only one suffering a loss and somehow, knowing that gave her comfort.

On the stage, behind one tall vase of flowers, Elena saw something from the corner of her eyes. A flash of brown curls and a devilish smile rushing away, but she had seen enough to know who it was.

Katherine.

Elena hadn't seen her since the school. Since she almost ripped out her heart. And livid, Elena was damned if the bitch ruined her best friend's funeral.

"What is it?" Caroline asked from her seat, probably expecting her to have sat down already. She looked to where Elena had been looking and then back.

The brunette turned away, looking back to the stage as if her doppelganger would appear, and then shook her head at her friend. "Um, I'm gonna go freshen up first," she quickly excused herself, heading back to the lobby to get to the back rooms.

What in the world was Katherine doing there? Elena hadn't understood what had happened at the school, and Bonnie's sudden… state had made the prior event all but vanish. It wasn't until she had gotten a good look in the mirror after going to the boarding house did she remember, and even after that she hadn't mentioned it to anyone. She was too lost in her heartache over her best friend to think about what had transpired between her and her however-many-greats ancestor. She had almost died. Katherine had almost killed her, and she had no doubt that she would be dead if it hadn't been for… for whatever happened.

Elena walked down the empty hall she knew to lead towards the stage. There was nothing else but this hall and the locked doors along the walls. Once she found Katherine, and though she most likely wouldn't get a straight answer, she would ask. Then she would find a way to kill her.

Distracted, Elena almost fell back as she bumped into someone. Strong arms steadied her as she apologized, "Oh my god, I'm sorry—oh," she paused when she looked up to see Damon who raised his brows.

"Oh?"

"No, I mean, sorry but…," she shook her head, correcting herself, "what are you doing here?"

He frowned, but he looked worried, "I came to pay my respects. And see how you were doing."

"I'm fine, Damon," she lied, she didn't know when she'd be fine again. Nothing was ever fine about losing someone.

"You sure?"

"No," she admitted. Despite his limit, now that he's human, he had probably heard her crying the night before, thinking about things surrounding Bonnie just right before her death. What could they have done differently?

"What is it?" he asked and she knew he genuinely wanted to know if he could help. She shook her head, rolling her eyes and biting her lips.

"It's just… Bonnie… I mean, what I don't understand is how she couldn't say goodbye. How could she not tell us? How could she hold that in?" Elena shook her head, tears already in her eyes, "We could've found a way out. We could've looked for a way to bring her back."

"Maybe, but you don't know that. And this is Bonnie Bennett we're talking about. She probably didn't want to you to think about it," Damon suggested with a shrug, and she could tell he had a silent "like me" statement in there, for all the times he'd done the same.

"That's stupid. Taking a chance is better than not trying and she's my friend. If she needed help she should've come to me," she shook her head, irrefutably, "or to Caroline, or anyone!"

Damon didn't have a response, but he looked as if he wanted to say something else. He didn't say anything but Elena was never one to let people hold things in. Not if she could help it.

"What is it, Damon?"

His blues met her darker eyes and with a shake of his head he began to dismiss it, "Nothing. Now's not really the time."

They had just been talking about Bonnie and how she hadn't seem to see the right time to tell them her situation and Damon goes and pulls something similar. Frustrated she groaned, pressing, "Now is a good a time as any."

Damon stopped and stared at her for a moment.

He shook his head, "Don't say I didn't tell you so," he commented and then continued, "Not to border on anything but it has been at least a week since you've really turned your humanity on and… I know you're not sired to me anymore…"

He trailed off and she bit her lips, turning her gaze from him. She knew what he was getting at. She sighed.

"I told you," he said at her reaction, but he had probably been waiting to ask her for a while now. And she had been the one to instigate him sharing his thoughts. Elena would be lying if she said she hadn't been thinking about it either and she couldn't dismiss it like she'd been trying to for a while now.

"I…," she sighed again, her eyes meeting his, "I need to find myself," when his brows lowered she went on to explain, "This entire time, the past couple of months, I've been feeling so lost. Losing Stefan to Klaus, having feelings for you, turning into a vampire. I couldn't… I didn't know how to feel, and I told Stefan that. That's why he broke up with me," Damon's widened slightly at her words and she wondered if he hadn't known who'd broken up with who. Or even why, really. She had told him once that it was because of him but she had never gotten the time to explain everything, and he never asked for it. And she couldn't imagine Stefan telling his brother.

"He told me he couldn't be with someone who wasn't one hundred percent sure that they wanted to be with him. And I couldn't ignore my feelings for you. Not then, not when they were magnified and I was—."

"Sired to me," he finished, looking down.

"I never meant to hurt either of you," she said, stopping herself from reaching out to comfort him. It was probably better she didn't, "and it's my fault. I know it's my fault. If I hadn't been so unsure…"

If she really was dwelling on it she knew that a _large_ part of her was mad at herself for what she put them both through. And another part was mad that Damon hadn't let her go—to let her figure things out on her own. On some level she understood why he did what he did. He wasn't strong enough to let her go. He didn't believe in them as much as he should've, and though it can't be an excuse she also couldn't blame everything on him. She loved Stefan, and in her human heart there was no doubt about it. And though Elena had changed when she was turned into a vampire, Damon still hadn't trusted in them or what they could've been.

"And now?" he asked, though he didn't look the least bit hopeful. Elena felt her heart twist. One thing was for sure, she was still unsure.

She sighed, "Now, after turning off my humanity I think I've been on the other side of things, and I know I have to take a step back. I can't keep making rash decision that can get you, me and Stefan hurt, and I can't do that without finding myself first. I need space—I think we all do."

Damon wasn't looking at her when she turned to him, and he was doing nothing to indicate he agreed. Worry began building up in her chest and she realized she didn't know if Damon would understand.

"Okay," he looked to her, and she offered him a tight smile that he returned, somewhat.

"Elena," Caroline came around the corner and paused, looking between them but then continued without comment, "the service is starting."

"Okay," she turned to Damon, who raised his brows and walked past the blonde, leaving the two vampires in the hall.

"What was that?" Caroline asked, ever suspicious around them.

"He asked me who I'm going to choose now that my humanity's back on."

The blonde raised her brows as if to say, 'at a time like this?' but Elena shook her head.

"I was the one who got it out of him, Care," she explained, "he wasn't even going to mention it."

Caroline moved on. She asked, "So?"

"So what?"

"What did you say?"

"I chose myself," she said, watching her friend raise her brows again in surprise. She grabbed Caroline's arm and steered them out of the hall, Katherine completely gone from her mind, "I just wish Stefan was here so I could tell him too."

The blonde looked to her, wordlessly, and Elena didn't explain anything further.

Together they went into the sanctuary of the church, the reverend already beginning his speech in honor of their friend.

* * *

"Oh man, remember that one time in Camp Wakiliki… Wakelick?" Matt paused confused, "I still can't pronounce it."

The three graduates sat around in the backyard of the Bennett's house, reminiscing. The service had finished just a half hour ago and everyone had gathered for the reception after.

Caroline laughed, "Anyways, you were saying?"

"Right, at camp on our second year the fifteen year olds were making so much noise at night and getting away with it," Matt almost laughed.

Caroline gasped, "Oh my god, I remember that! They were so noisy we wanted to pull a prank on them one night, but we had to borrow some things from the locked shed."

Elena scoffed, giggling, "Borrow? Care, you make it sound like we weren't doing anything illegal. Well, camp-illegal."

"What? We weren't!" the blonde said defensively and Matt held in his own laugh, "Anyways, remember how when we snuck into the shed and we dropped a whole bunch of stuff? And somehow _that_ caught the counsellor's attention," Matt nodded, smiling as Caroline went on, "And when they came we all couldn't fit behind the crates so Bonnie was left out in the open."

"Left out," the now ex-quarterback repeated and laughed, "I'm pretty sure Tyler pushed her out there to take the blame."

Caroline narrowed her eyes, trying to remember.

"Oh yeah, but she sweet talked Counsellor Parker out of getting in trouble and actually found a way to blame it on Tyler instead!" Elena jumped in and snorted. They had all been just around ten at the time and hadn't fully realized the genius that was Bonnie Bennett.

"Oh my god," Caroline placed her hand over her mouth, trying to contain her smile, "She must've done that to Tyler at least three times."

"He kinda deserved it," Matt laughed along with his friends. Briefly, after all that had happened, did he consider backing out from his plans with Rebekah. He felt guilty, running away as his friends were left behind in the town that left so many memories—good and more recently, bad ones. He had yet to tell his friends but he knew what they would say. Though neither trusted Rebekah, they would encourage him to go see the world. And although he couldn't agree more he still felt bad about leaving them.

Mentally, he shook his head of his thoughts. Matt glanced to the glass door that led inside the house where everyone was—solemn, and probably wondering why the children were outside laughing at a time like this. Someone caught his eye.

"Hey, isn't that-?"

"Celeste Bennett?" Caroline interrupted Matt, narrowing her eyes, "I didn't see her at the church."

"She used to babysit Bonnie… and us. I thought Bonnie said she'd moved to Europe after college," Elena relayed, looking to the woman.

Matt remembered her to be ten years older than them and really really cool. Though that was probably just his twelve year old self thinking so. Bonnie _had_ said that her cool, much older cousin moved to Europe and that was six years ago.

"If she came all the way here for Bonnie that must really suck," both Elena and Caroline turned to him as he spoke, "I mean, six years and you come back home for your cousin's funeral."

They suddenly became quiet, but Caroline jumped up from the railing she was leaning against, having eyed the woman inside.

"Let's go say hi," she said, pulling both her friends to their feet.

When they got in they made a beeline for Celeste with Matt introducing himself first.

"Celeste, hi," Matt begun and the woman turned, donning the same stunning green eyes as Bonnie, "I don't know if you remember me but—."

"Matthew Donovan?" she almost exclaimed, turning to the girls as well, "Elena Gilbert and Caroline Forbes. Wow, you guys are all grown up!"

"So you do remember us," Caroline smiled.

"Of course! How can I forget the little munchkins who managed to convince me to take them to a McDonalds drive through in the middle of the night?" she laughed, hugging Matt, Elena and then Caroline, somewhat pausing at the last two.

"So how've you been?" Elena asked.

With a smile that Matt remembered even till now, Celeste spoke, telling them about Europe, little tidbits of her life there, and ending with how she regretted not visiting any earlier to see them all, especially her cousin, before she was called over by one of her aunts.

Eventually, the trio headed back outside, the mood much too gloomy for them to want to dwell in.

* * *

It was times like this when Damon resented his brother.

He sat in the boarding house study, standing beside one of the book shelves with a giant grimoire in hand. He frowned at the contents in it, not to mention its weight, before placing it on the ground and stepping up the ladder once more. His eyes scanned the books on the third rung before he stepped up a few, fingering the titles on the row. If he were still a vampire he would've found what he was looking for a _long_ time ago. And for that he cursed at Stefan's puppy dog eyes and sad little face.

Though not to say that he would ever want to die, he knew, with all intents and purposes, that he had never _ever_ wanted to take the cure. Under werewolf venom circumstances included. Right now, he would like nothing more than to beat his past self for his crappy decision making skills. Why in the world did he take that stupid thing? He couldn't conjure a good, thought out reason as to why, but if he was willing to admit he knew he had a soft spot for family. And Stefan was the only one he had left.

Damon picked a heavy set book and climbed down the ladder.

That still wasn't an excuse though. Damon was born to be a vampire. He never knew it, and in 1864 he had longed for it. For one hundred and forty six years he had been a vampire. And it was something he had been increasing good at. It had been a part of him for more than four folds of his life and it was his entire being, it was _him. _He had relished so much in vampirism even he didn't know if the limitations of being human would change him now, and he never wanted to find out.

As he flipped through a page he groaned, frustrated. This one didn't have it either.

He almost flung the book across the room when the weight of it brought down his hand, twisting it.

"Argh!" he held his wrist, flexing his hand as the book dropped to the ground. He thought, _'Stupid human strength."_

He seethed, how the hell was he supposed to live like this? None of the books they owned spoke of the cure and yet there he was, cured and human. How was he supposed to find a way out when it seemed no one wrote a single damn thing about the cure? And yet there were people who knew about it: like the hunters, and of course, Qetsiyah. Ugh, if only the little witch hadn't died.

The witch.

The funeral.

Elena's words.

Damon almost didn't understand her; her words had jumped at him and punched him in the gut. He wasn't sure if he deserved it or not, but he had, for the most part of their conversation, thought that Elena would choose his brother. He had been positive that she would choose Stefan, just as she had chosen him all those months ago. Damon loved Elena, he knew that; but sometimes he wondered what the hell he was thinking putting himself through it all. It seemed like there was no point because deep down, he just knew he'd never be chosen. He never was.

Elena choosing neither of them surprised him. And also brought up that little bit of hope he had salvaged, though he quickly threw that away. Hope was useless. There was no place for hope with him because he'd rather he not be disappointed.

Just as he had been disappointed with Stefan.

The little Gilbert had told him of Stefan's disappearing act, asking Jeremy to tell him on his behalf that he would be leaving.

The douchebag.

He didn't even have the decency to tell his own brother face to face.

And after convincing Damon to take the cure, and promising him that he would have his back. Something the older Salvatore imagined Stefan would be doing by helping him find a way out of this. But instead he had deserted him and Damon cursed, hoping his little brother the worst wherever his newfound "fresh start" was.

* * *

Stefan couldn't tell if his eyes were closed or not. It was all the same to him. The darkness.

And the numbness too.

However deep he was underwater he had been able to tell initially because of the water pressure. Now though. Now, it was all the same to him.

When he was thinking—when he _could_ think—his thoughts were on Damon and how he was, and on Elena and what she was doing, but only briefly.

A fraction of a second, if he was lucky.

Because as soon as he became coherent, he became aware, and when he became aware, his body reacted. Vampire healing would automatically push out all the water and sand in his lungs, and instinct would force everything back in. He'd be gasping again in no time, though not for air. Never for air. And as he struggled it would hurt more. And eventually, if he were fortunate, he would lose consciousness, or become still or… no, he couldn't tell anymore. He didn't know. Because now, it seemed everything was in a loop—relentless and never-ending.

Elena. What was she doing now?

Stefan tensed, realizing his mistake. Then he gasped, a flood of water driving themselves through his esophagus, and crashing into his lungs. He couldn't stop himself from moving, even when he tried to tell himself to. Thoughts flashed through his mind.

Elena.

Damon.

Where were they?

Were they safe?

Silas.

Or—what was that she called herself?

What were they doing now?

Twisting and writhing, Stefan punched against the metal box encasing him, vaguely realizing the dents he was making.

He struggled through the water, hitting the wall to his right while his heart and his soul cried out for help.

* * *

Jeremy had a distant look on his face. The day had been long and all the crying was getting to him. For a big part of the day he hadn't been sad anymore. No, it was as if he had grown past that and he had moved on to anger. What were the five stages of grief again?

He shook his head after actually trying to think of the answer because it didn't matter. Bonnie had lied to him. She had promised him her presence. She had told him she would still be with him. She had emphasized that she would be with him always, and yet for days she hadn't answered him. She had lied.

After the reception he had felt a sense of finality and he was mad. How could Bonnie promise him all those things and refuse them when time came to it? How could she get his hopes up after knowing how many he had lost in the short period of time that was his life? It wasn't long before he had snapped and flipped a side table in the living room of the boarding house, breaking a lamp with his anger.

Elena had stormed in and he had ran out, shutting the door to the room he had claimed. His chest had heaved and he had refused to answer the door when his sister came knocking, leaving soon after. When he'd calmed down he had sat in front of the empty fireplace on the floor, staring distantly in the black depth.

He almost sighed. Why did people always leave? Why did everyone he loved die?

Jeremy wasn't sad anymore, and his frustration had subsided. Now though, he was back to feeling numb.

"I'm sorry."

He turned so suddenly to his left, his expression softening as he let out a shaky breath. Her whisper hung in the air and Bonnie's eyes were as apologetic as he'd ever seen them. He swallowed, not finding it in himself to utter a word. Was he hallucinating?

"I'm sorry," she repeated, reaching out but not touching him.

"Are you real?" he breathed, and she smiled.

"I'm a ghost, Jeremy. I'm as real as any ghost can ever be."

All his anger, all his frustration and all the numbness left him. He had been looking for Bonnie and she had come. Finally.

"Where were you?"

"I was on the other side," she said, moving just a bit closer to him, "I heard you but none of the witches would let me go. They told me it wasn't time."

Jeremy frowned, but he didn't ask. The business of witches were always marked with riddles and cryptic sayings and right now he was just glad that Bonnie was there. He didn't even think to ask.

"But you're here now," he turned, full body towards her, inching closer.

"I am," she whispered, closing her eyes as he placed his hand on her cheek. He couldn't feel her, and she couldn't feel him but she was there. And that was all that mattered.

* * *

Caroline came home to an empty house, her mother gone for the night to work. The day had been exhausting to say the least. Everything about it had been solemn and sad. Mr. Bennett, especially, and though he hadn't been told what happened yet, she knew sooner or later he'd come asking straight up.

The blonde felt a weight off her shoulders when she undressed and hopped into the shower. Today had been tiring, but it was done and for that she was grateful.

Once she got out of the shower she dressed and headed to the kitchen. She may be tired but she didn't feel the need to jump under the covers yet.

The clock on the wall read eleven, forty five.

Odd, why wasn't she sleepy?

She just about grabbed the orange juice in the fridge when she felt the presence of someone behind her. Klaus. It couldn't be anyone else. Nobody was rude enough to come invade her home without greeting her.

She turned around, her eyes disbelieving.

"Tyler?"

"Hey," he smiled softly, "I came as soon as I heard,".

"Where-," she breathed. Caroline stared at him, the subtle dark under his eyes and the sudden shadow of facial hair around his chin. She had been looking since grad, using all the connections Damon was willing to cough up to her advantage. And yet nothing. A whole week of nothing. Tyler had been nowhere to be found and though Caroline hadn't lost hope, everything had just gradually became exhausting. Grad had literally been hell and she was just so tired of it all. But he came. Tyler came. As soon as he heard. Her heart jerked and her face scrunched up as she tried to hold back her sudden sob.

Tyler's face dropped as he rushed towards her, wrapping her in his arms and holding her tight.

"It's okay," he whispered, placing his cheek against her hair, "it's okay to let it all out."

He knew. And with that another torrent of hurt crashed through her. Her mother almost dying. This Silas thing. The veil. Bonnie. Her Bonnie Bennett. Her _best_ _friend_. Caroline dropped to her knees, and no amount of hybrid strength could hold them both up. He held her tighter.

Bonnie was _gone_.

Caroline cried into Tyler's shoulder, fisting his shirt tightly, making sure he really was there while also clinging on for support. She wasn't sure how long they sat on the floor, but by the time she had calmed down the crickets were steadily chirping outside and the moonlight that filtered from the window shone brightly above the clouds.

* * *

**A/N:** Hopefully nothing is progressing too slowly, I cant tell because I've had this story idea for so long already, I just… I don't know anymore. Its like when you read a word too many times and it starts to look weird. But YAY! You guys are awesome! Thank you again for the reviews. I'm glad you're enjoying it :D

Don't forget to drop in a word or two in that box down there.


	5. Awoken

**Chapter Five: Awoken**

**A/N: **So dammit, guys my otps are showing. I tried not to, but its kinda of difficult to develop characters without a bit of it, PLUS its tvd, and as much as I hate it, romance is what its centered on so it is kind of hard. Anyways if you guys don't know my notable otps are datherine and stelena. And sort of forwood, I mean I prefer them over klaroline, and I don't personally like beremy but they're kind of inevitable in this time frame, so I promise to handle them properly. Overall just a **warning**, I'll have the tendency to lean towards these guys, but they'll probably surface _realistically, _if at all_._

Anyways, enjoy!

* * *

Katherine blinked, staring as the door across from her pried open; the sound of metal and concrete grated together. She didn't move. Not even as she saw boots make their way towards her from the entrance.

She knew who it was, though even if she didn't want Silas to have the satisfaction of having her attention she was starving, and that was the most direct thing in her mind.

After his eerie words he had left and never returned, leaving her hungry, craving and weak. She didn't know how long it had been but it was long enough that she had at least formulated nine possible escape plans. All she needed were the right opportunities. Nothing she attempted so far had worked. Though if she were to stay with Silas any longer she would use that to her benefit and learn the most that she could. When she escaped—and she would—she'd use what she knew. After all, knowledge is power, and it seemed it was the only thing that she could use to gain any sort of advantage.

Silas sat on the ground in front of her, his legs crossed, as he placed a bottle of blood beside the now empty water bottle.

She blinked, and looked to his face.

"Why the glum expression, dear? Don't you like your room?"

'_Dick,' _Katherine thought and almost instantly Silas' lips turned up.

"Beggars can't be choosers Katerina. And it's not as if you are stuck in a coffin underground," he smiled wider, referencing what seemed like an inside joke with only himself, "or underwater."

The brunette's eyes dropped to the bottle; even sealed tightly she could smell it, her hunger ignoring the plastic encasing it, and she wanted nothing more than to snatch it up and devour it all.

"How rude of me, you must be starving," he picked up the bottle, twisting the cap open and holding it toward her. Like a cautious animal she eyed the bottle and then the person offering it; she licked her lips. Her hunger told her to take it and she did. She reached out and grasping it, her fingers brushing Silas'. A tiny course of electricity traveled down her hand as they touched but she wasn't so sure if she were imagining it or not. He let go, and with slightly shaking hands she brought the drink to her lips.

Katherine gulped the entire thing in a couple mouthfuls while carefully spilling nothing. Silas chuckled once she was done, and she crushed the bottle and threw it aside. She cleared her throat, "What do you want?"

He sighed, but his smile was still in place, "We're back here aren't we? What I want?"

"Yes."

"You really want to know?" he tilted his head, but she didn't say a word, annoyed. He continued on his own, "Well, for starters I want the cure."

Katherine's lips almost curved in a tell. Did he know the only one had already been used?

"Oh, don't look like that. I know already," he said, "but I need another. You wouldn't happen to know where, would you?"

"What?" her brows lowered in confusion, "There's only one."

"One that Qetsiyah made," he corrected, "don't you think that things that are made can be _re_made?"

She sat up a bit straighter, he had a point. But like the immortality spell Qetsiyah was the only person who knew, and she had never showed up, even when the veil had been completely lifted.

Silas snorted, "What is it with history? No one can keep the truth intact. But you are right about one thing, Qetsiyah isn't just going to show up to tell us how."

"Us?"

He smiled, brushing a hair from her face. She would think the gesture almost held affection, if she wasn't chained to a wall because of him, constantly inhaling vervaine. He reminded her of Klaus, but a much harsher and ominous version. She shuddered.

"What do you want from me?"

He stared at her for a moment, looking down with a sigh, "Do you know how the story goes? The story of Silas, the _first_ immortal?"

She pursed her lips.

"Don't be shy, I want to know what you know," he insisted, tilting his head.

Despite herself, Katherine complied, "You and Qetsiyah, you knew each other. And you… she had been in love with you. And you tricked her into making you immortal so you could spend eternity together, but you had wanted it for another woman. So Qetsiyah locked you up."

"Well," Silas grinned, "the historian tried, didn't they? I'll give them that."

"So they didn't get it right, how does that apply to me?" she snapped, temporarily losing her caution.

Her tone didn't seem to bother him, "Do you know who the other woman was?"

Katherine frowned, she hadn't expected the random question, "No."

Did it even matter?_ 'Well, to Silas maybe,' _she thought.

"I doubt that," he said with a short shake of his head, and she frowned confused. She really didn't know who the other woman was, but Silas continued, "Though I do think you deserve to know who she was."

He paused, getting up to sit on the chair, "Her name was Irina."

_Irina_? Where had she heard that before?

"Irina Petrova," he clarified, and Katherine tensed before she could even fully comprehend what he had said.

"No," she muttered, her face scrunching in confusion, and he chuckled, "there… Tatia was the original. She couldn't' have-."

She trailed off, what did she know? For as long as she'd existed after running from Klaus, she had researched the doppelgangers. She could find nothing but herself and Tatia. Tatia who didn't even own the surname Petrova. How could this woman—two thousand years ago have it? It wasn't just some coincidence. Not if she was there at the moment, chained to the wall by some maniac who actually lived two thousand years ago.

"How-?" she began. And akin to all her other questions, he smiled.

* * *

Elena opened her eyes to her head pounding. She didn't think that vampires could still have headaches but apparently they did. She massaged her temples.

"What is it?" Damon asked from the driver's seat of his car as they drove down the road.

She looked to him and shook her head, "It's nothing. Just a… really weird dream."

He frowned, "Didn't think any could take a nap on such a short twenty minute drive to the groceries."

She snorted, "I didn't fall asleep. I just briefly closed my eyes."

The car stopped at a red light and he took a second to ask, "Want to tell me about it?"

Elena bit her lip, glancing at him sideways. He was trying. She could tell. And though they couldn't _really _have any physical space, since they lived in the same building, she knew he was trying to be what they were before. Friends.

But she still didn't want to say anything. Her dreams—or whatever they were—were getting weirder and weirder. The one from when she had been at the grave yard earlier that week with Jeremy had so far been the weirdest, yet for the life of her she couldn't decipher it. This time instead utter darkness she was in a room. A basement cell much like the ones in the Salvatore boarding house. What did it mean? It wasn't reoccurring, but they all had the same feeling around them that told her they were in fact the same… if that made any sense.

Damon nodded slowly when he didn't get an answer, turning the corner and getting to the parking lot of the only Wal Mart a town over.

"No, Damon, it's not you. I just—I can't explain it," she said as he parked the car. Even if she wanted to, she didn't know _how _to explain it. It didn't make sense in her head and it definitely wouldn't make sense aloud.

He nodded, and got out of the car. She followed. After a couple days of living off the only food at the boarding house Damon and Jeremy needed some real food. Elena knew that it was probably really odd for Damon to rely on sustenance that didn't come as red, warm liquid, but he needed the food, and he needed to learn to go grocery shopping. Properly.

Jeremy had refused and that had left Elena. She didn't mind, though she hoped it didn't end awkwardly or anything like that.

"Elena?"

She turned at her name, coming face to face with Celeste. She hadn't seen her since the funeral.

"Celeste, hi," she greeted, falling into stride with her as they headed to the mall, "what are you doing here?"

They weren't in Mystic Falls, so it was oddly coincidental seeing her there.

"There aren't any Wal Marts in Europe… well England, but I never bought anything there," she smiled, "that's beside the point though, my mother wanted me to pick up some order she had. This was the closest one so."

Elena nodded, watching Damon's back, just a few cars ahead of them.

She gasped suddenly, feeling something in her stomach. She looked down. A stake.

She turned to Celeste who looked just as surprised. Elena coughed, tasting blood in her mouth and feeling is drip down the corners of her lips.

"Oh my god," Celeste looked behind them, placing her hands to steady Elena. Damon was already running back to them, "Where did that come from?!"

"What happened?!" Damon neck craned around, looking past cars, but the lot was empty of people.

Suddenly, another flew by, embedding itself a bit higher, closer to Elena's heart. Damon saw where it came from but he couldn't see or hear anything. Quickly grabbing both girls, he dragged them behind a car, just as another stake bounced off the pavement.

Once sitting behind a car Elena reached down, pulling one stake out with a shout. She tilted her head back when she did the same with the other. She looked to Damon, briefly looking to Celeste who was hunched over behind the other wheel.

"What's going on?" Elena asked just as a stake slid past the top of the car.

"Well apparently we're being attacked," Damon quipped.

"Did you see anything?"

"No."

"I saw someone," Celeste joined in, "there was some guy behind a truck. He had a crossbow."

"Now how do you know what a crossbow is?" Damon asked, irrelevantly.

The woman shook her head, "He looked like a hunter."

Damon raised his brows, sharing a look with Elena.

"You know-?" Elena asked.

"I'm a Bennett," she said, as if that should've been obvious, "And yeah, I knew about you once I hugged you and Caroline at the reception."

"Okay, now isn't the time to chitchat. I'm human, so I'm _really_ useless at the moment. Can't you do a spell… or something?" Damon rolled his eyes, never one to ask politely.

"I'm working on it."

There was a sudden shout a few cars down and quickly Elena got up, running towards it. The man with dark auburn hair lay on his back, grimacing, though someone was already on top of him, holding him down.

"Tyler?"

Since when had he gotten back into town?

"You okay, Elena?" he asked over his shoulder and she nodded. A few seconds later Damon and Celeste appeared behind her.

"Tell me one reason why I shouldn't kill you right now," Tyler hissed, pulling at his collar.

"You'll enact the Hunter's Curse," he said, grinning, "But I've already told you that."

"How did you find me? I covered my tracks," the hybrid said, shaking his head.

"Not as well as you thought you did, wolf," he grinned, "Besides I have bigger things to worry about now."

"Bigger things? Then why did you attack my friend?"

"She's a vampire. I stumbled upon her, it's my job," the hunter rolled his eyes.

"What 'bigger things' are you talking about?" Elena interjected, looking over Tyler's shoulder. And how had he known she was a vampire by just looking?

"That's none of your concern vampire. It's a hunter's mission, I won't speak to you about it," he spat.

Damon rolled his eye, and scoffed, "Hunter's mission? How lame can you be? Silas is dead. Now so is your mission."

The hunter narrowed his eyes, shaking his head, "Silas? The Immortal you mean? And how is that? Unless the cure's been shoved down his throat and he's killed as a human, he isn't dead."

"So what if he's encased in cement at the bottom off the ocean? He's gone, that's all that matters," Damon shook his head, flippant.

The man on the ground laughed, "Encased in cement. That would require him unconscious."

"He _is,_" Damon said, annoyed already.

"He's not," he shook his head, "I can feel it. He's awake and whatever you people thought you did, didn't work."

Tyler looked to Elena, looking every bit the part of someone who'd been missing out on everything. But before Elena could turn back to Damon or Celeste, there was a click and a vervaine bomb exploded over Tyler, and close enough to hit Elena. With them writhing in vervaine the hunter jumped up, not bothering to look back as he ran down the lot and into a far truck.

"Do something!" Damon turned to the witch beside him.

"He's too far!"

The hunter drove away, heading down the road opposite of Mystic Falls.

* * *

"Funny thing about that," Silas began, though he didn't laugh, "You are a doppelganger, are you not?"

Katherine frowned. No, he couldn't be saying what she thought he was saying. That was impossible. There have only been two doppelgangers so far and that was her and boring little Elena.

"How many of you are there?"

She didn't respond, though he continued.

"One? Two? Do you know of any more?" he raised his brows.

Katherine shook her head, "There's only been two."

"No. You only _know_ of two," he said, "and as for the original, Katerina. Do you know who it is? You've always assumed it was Tatiana, have you not?

What the hell? How did he know all these things? What was he really getting at? Why did he call her Katerina? And _Tatiana_? She'd only ever heard the Original's call her Tatia. Hadn't Silas been encased in a tomb, desecating for two thousand years?

"That's impossible," she said, "are you serious right now? I've never _assumed_, I've been told she was the original. And it doesn't make sense. Tatia was used to start the vampire lines. That's why we're doppelgangers."

"You maybe," Silas shrugged, getting up and once again kneeling in front of her.

"Me?"

"You," he sighed seriously, "and Elena. I'm still not entirely sure."

She narrowed her eyes. He was making less and less sense, and whatever he needed her for, she hoped it kept her alive long enough to at least _try_ to escape.

Silas reached into his back pocket, pulling out a key and reaching out to grab her wrist. She almost pulled away but she stopped herself, watching as he unlocked her shackled and stood.

"Come on," he looked to the watch in his wrist, "it's almost four."

He didn't look back as he walked towards the door. Katherine had half the mind to just run away, but she knew better. Steadily getting to her feet she almost ran out of the room, going up the stairs of the basement to a kitchen. She breathed, for the first time, some fresh air, and her lungs felt gratified.

"Better?" Silas tiled his head, and she looked around, about to ask. "A quaint little house I found. In the middle of the forest of course. In case you think you can run."

Her eyes met his dark brown and she was reminded more so that he was inherently dangerous, and the only reason she wasn't dead was because he needed her.

"Here," he tossed her a blood bag, "I'm sure you're still hungry."

Once she caught it, she felt the warmth of it in her hand and she almost groaned at her room temperature meal. She followed him, as he gestured to do so out from the back door and into the forest. Tearing the bag in one corner she fed, ignoring the dullness of the warm blood as they walked. She was slowly gaining her strength and once she was done she tossed the bag aside. The gloom and the lack of sun filtering through the trees told her that she was still approximately close to Mystic Falls, if not in it.

Wordlessly they trudged through trees and small hills, and it was then that Katherine noticed how gross she felt. She didn't know how long it'd been, but she was still in her clothes from graduation day and her hand was still stained with her doppelganger's dried blood. What she would kill to get a shower right about now.

"So how do you know my name?" she asked, the silence of the forest become too eerie, even for her. There were no sounds, not a single scurrying of paws or step of hooves. It was as if they knew a bigger predator was around and it gave her goosebumps.

He laughed, "Any self-respecting person older than you calls you Katerina. Why? Do you prefer Katherine?"

"Actually," she said, though she didn't clarify.

"Katerina. I have no reason not to call you by your real name," he said, and then looked ahead, they hadn't even walked a second over ten minutes when he stopped, "It's just on top of this hill. Come on."

He began walking and she trudged behind him and stopping short once she got to the top. Well shit.

She hadn't recognized where they were but now she knew. Katherine knew the place to be called, Elistear's Ridge. Though it was anything but a ridge. More like a flat plane on top of a hill.

Rocks jutted out of the edges, opposite of each other and in a semicircle, forming a sort of stage in the middle. Five boulders, small enough to be sat upon, rested in the middle, and in a circle around a boulder just a few inches bigger than the rest. She'd read and heard stories of this place. It belonged to witches of centuries old, and many dead rested there. To a witch it held a lot of power, even more so than the house with a hundred dead witches. Many had been sacrificed there. Witches all across time had performed powerful spells there. She didn't know any of the rules that applied but she knew better than to disturb it.

She swallowed the lump in her throat.

She had known it was around somewhere in Virginia but she had never thought it would be so close to Mystic Falls.

Without even thinking about it she turned, using her vampire speed and gravity to run away. She didn't want to stay there. And whatever Silas had planned for her couldn't be any good.

An iron grip around her waist suddenly pulled her back and she was thrown into the middle of the Ridge. She hadn't even gotten down the hill, she realized.

"Where do you think you're going?" his eyes flashed in anger, and Katherine froze.

But as if something caught his attention Silas looked up to the sky. Nothing had changed about it, but he seemed to be seeing something she couldn't.

"It's time," he said darkly, rushing over to her and pulling her towards the middle rock. For all her struggles he didn't seem the least bothered.

He stood behind her as he pushed her onto the middle rock. He pulled out a knife, grabbing one of her hands and fisting it over the knife. He pulled, drawing blood and placed her hand on the rock, muttering something under his breath. She couldn't hear what he was saying, even though his mouth was right by her ear.

"What are you doing?" she asked, afraid. Sacrifices. This was a place of sacrifices. But he wasn't a witch. He couldn't cast a spell. What the hell was he doing?!

He grabbed her right hand and did the same, placing it flat beside her other hand.

"Preparations," he said after he finished his muttering. Holding both her wrists he squeezed and she grimaced, his grip was bone crushing and it was drawing out a lot of blood.

So this was it. This was why he had her with him. Why he fed her before taking her there. She was a sacrifice and she didn't even know why.

"Not a sacrifice, dear," he whispered, "I just need your blood."

He let go and stepped back, coming around so that he stood opposite of her. A wind picked up and leaves flew about. Though even without him there, Katherine still couldn't move her hands. She watched as her blood, instead of dripping down the rock, spread across it. It covered the grey and green boulder with red. Her chest heaved, she was panting, and her blood was now _rushing_ out of her hands like some kind of vacuum.

Her eyes turned to Silas, and his lips twitched into a grin.

* * *

"When did you even get here?" Damon asked, eyeing the younger man.

Damon and Tyler stood, talking. A couple hours after the incident that morning Elena sat on a couch in front of the fire. She had changed out of her blood stained clothes and was now thinking. Jeremy sat on the other couch.

"Last night. I was back tracking my steps again this morning, in case Issac showed up."

"Issac?" Jeremy asked.

"Yeah that's the hunter," Tyler clarified, "I stayed in this one town in Washington a little too long and he caught my trail. He's been trying to kill me for at least a month now."

"A month? How the hell aren't you less stupid? He followed you here, he'll probably be around Mystic Falls now because of you!" Damon said, mad, and Elena didn't have the energy to tell him to be nicer.

"I wasn't stupid! I retraced my steps and covered my tracks at least three times before I even stepped into Mystic Falls. You think I'd intentionally bring him here?!" Tyler fed off Damon's anger and before it could escalade Elena stood.

"Okay, you guys, calm down. We can't do anything now. The hunter's here and we'll deal with him," she said, "I'm just concerned about what he said."

"What? That Silas is awake?" Damon asked, "That's even more ridiculous. Our little Bennett witch encased him in cement and we dumped him in the ravine."

"Did we? Were you there Damon? Cause I wasn't," she shook her head, "I mean what if something happened? What if Silas escaped somehow?"

"But Stefan-," Damon paused, thinking. It was uncharacteristically selfish of his brother to just run away like that. To him, Stefan was annoyingly self_less_ and in his anger it hadn't occurred to him that something could have gone wrong.

"Jere, Stefan talked to you. Did anything seem off?" Elena asked.

"Well-,"he paused, thinking back. At the time all he could about was Bonnie, he hadn't thought much about Stefan's appearance and sudden disappearance. He frowned, "Yeah, actually. Something did seem off."

Damon stalked over to Jeremy, grabbing him by the collar and with strength, pulled him to his feet, "Something seemed off?! Why didn't you tell us, you idiot?!"

"Damon!" Elena shouted, but it was Tyler who pried the older man off his friend.

Jeremy dusted himself off, "I wasn't thinking about it, okay? I just thought it was like, remaining feelings I had over being a hunter. How was I supposed to know?"

Damon groaned, frustrated. Without another word he grabbed for his jacket and headed out of the boarding house. Elena turned to give Jeremy a look that asked if he was okay and he nodded.

"Get Caroline and meet us at the small waterfall near the edge of town," she directed her words to Tyler, who nodded as well.

Hearing Damon's car turn on, Elena grabbed her jacket, and headed out the front door. She had no idea what to expect when they got there.

* * *

**A/N: **Oh look at all those Katherine scenes. Hope that made up for the lack of Kat last chapter (if you guys noticed lol).

Don't forget to review and tell me what you think!


	6. Deep Waters

**Chapter Six: Deep Waters**

**A/N: **Ah thank you! Despite asking for feedback I never really expect any, so a BIG THANK YOU to you all! You're the best :)

And this is random but I've been spelling desiccate wrong… no wonder word wouldn't accept it. Oops! Anywhoo, chapter six, everybody.

* * *

Damon slammed the door to his Camaro, his boots settling on small rocks and dirt. He began up the small distance towards the cliff, noting the tire tracks in the dirt. They were deep, like the vehicle had to try a bit to get to the top. There were no other tracks, which probably meant that that was the van Stefan had used.

"Here right?" Elena appeared beside him, looking over the cliff and into the water. Steven's Quarry was what the locals called it.

Damon glanced around as well, besides the tire tracks and some drag marks nothing seemed out of place since the last time he'd been there. He sighed, "Well he isn't here."

Stefan left after dumping Silas and now Silas is awake. Elena gave him a look and turned away. It wasn't like the immortal would've been sitting on the cliff waiting for them to realize that. Had Silas been the one who spoke to little Gilbert or had Stefan had the courage to mention a goodbye?

_'Though,' _he thought, concerning Silas' awake status, _'what are we going on? The word of a complete stranger who also happens to be a hunter ready to kill us when he can?'_

He had been frustrated back at the boarding house. Mad about Benji bringing home another problem he couldn't help fully deal with. He'd blown up at Jeremy but he hadn't been _really_ angry about that. Stefan was fine. And if—which seemed likely—if he was in some sort of trouble, they would find a way to get him out of it. No, Damon Salvatore's frustration could be summed up in two words: being human. At the parking lot, he had been useless. Elena had almost died and he couldn't have done a thing about it. Not to mention the lack of answers he had about the cure. He groaned inwardly just thinking about it.

Elena stood at the edge of the cliff looking at some rocks.

"Look," she pointed out, indicating some scraped boulders. It looked like black paint. Probably where the safe hit it as it tumbled down to the water.

"Okay, Nancy Drew," he cocked a brow, "After Stefan stuffed Silas, he pushed him over the cliff."

"Aren't we going to check if the safe is still underwater?"

Damon frowned, "Yeah, but the underwater current here is strong. I can't go in."

And yet another thing he can't do.

"That's right, I will," Elena confirmed, pulling off her shoes and taking off her jacket.

"Whoa whoa whoa," he grabbed her wrist, pulling her back before she did anything stupid, "You're not going in there by yourself. We don't even know where it is really. It could be in the middle of the lake for all we know."

"I told Tyler to get Caroline. They'll be here soon," she said, "I should at least start searching."

Damon knew he literally couldn't do anything to stop her. He sighed, pointing over the cliff to the left, "See that shoreline over there. When you guys find it, drag that safe over there. I'll be waiting."

Elena nodded, handing him her phone and stepping over to the edge. She dove in with a splash and disappeared.

Damon pulled out his phone, dialing Barbie number one's number and waiting. She picked up.

"_Damon," _was how Caroline greeted him.

"Where are you two? Elena needs your help," he said.

"_We're on our way. We'll be there soon."_

"Good. Hurry up," he hung up, starting towards the forest.

If Silas really had woken up then they had a lot of problems to sort through. There was a good chance that Silas woke _after_ being thrown into the lake—the scrape marks proved that the safe was overthrown—and for Stefan's sake, he hoped that had been the case. He never thought he'd think it but he hoped Stefan had tapped into his inner asshole, dick of a Ripper persona and left before Silas could do anything to him. In that case, Elena and her friends would be dragging a broken safe. Though that's only _if_ that hunter hadn't been lying and Silas really had gotten free.

But that didn't make sense. Where had he been this whole time then? Why hadn't he attacked them in search of the cure and the Bennett witch they didn't have anymore?

Damon suddenly grabbed a tree, effectively stopping himself from falling. He cursed under his breath, and looked at the ground, if he were still a vampire he'd never have to worry about slipping on a… blood bag?

He bent down and picked it up, ignoring the fact that he could probably get some disease from just touching it.

_Mystic Falls General Hospital, Type: Negative B_.

He looked around. No one was around and the forest was silent. Now who the hell was stupid enough to leave this lying around for the police to find? He shook his head. Maybe this was connected to Silas. Though he couldn't imagine the man opting for blood bags instead of people.

Tossing it aside he continued on. There was a path around here somewhere. It would lead to the shoreline he pointed out to Elena earlier, but he doubted that she was there already.

"Dammit!" he cursed after a few minutes. He turned around in a circle. Where was that path?

He frowned though even without the path, all he had to do was keep heading forward and then right, towards the lake. Damon walked. After a couple more minutes he squinted to his left. A cottage. He glanced around, it was still quiet and he hoped that there was no one living there at the moment, or else it would be a weird sight to see a couple of teenagers hauling a heavy metal safe onto shore. One they shouldn't have the strength to carry without some kind of crane.

"Damon."

He gave a small shout as he turned. He reprimanded himself. Did he really just yelp in surprise?

"Don't do that," he said, taking a second to register the curls and the lack of water from being in the lake, "Katherine?"

"What are you doing here?" she asked with a raised brow.

"What am _I_ doing here?" Damon turned to the cabin, far off to the left of him, and put two and two together, "What are _you_ still doing in Mystic Falls?"

She tilted her head, eyeing him, and he was suddenly aware of the beating in his chest. He could feel his heartbeat and she most definitely could hear it. Her lips curled.

"What are you looking at?" he snapped. He felt the sudden need to be defensive. He was human. She wasn't. And though her killing him didn't even cross his mind, his pride was taking a hit as she smirked at him. He was human and he was weak. Something even Katherine knew he didn't prefer.

"Nothing," she bit her bottom lip, but to him that's as good as a laugh.

He rolled his eyes, pushing past her, "You're wasting my time."

"How is it that you turned human, Damon?" she asked, walking behind him.

"None of your business," he snapped, though he had to admit a bit of surprise that she didn't know before then. She could've heard about his demise from any little spy she may have planted around Mystic Falls.

"I can tell you never wanted to be human, so why would you take it?" she sounded more teasing than serious.

"I didn't want it, okay," he stopped in his tracks, turning to look at her and his frown deepened. She stood leaning on one foot, and her hair… and her expression. Something seemed… off. He shook it off, now wasn't the time to analyze Katherine Pierce. He sighed in distaste and continued his walk, "I was dying. And Stefan had it. He decided to give it to me."

He paused. That wasn't entirely true, but he didn't want to keep admitting that he took it willingly. He already hated himself for making that decision and he didn't want to tell anyone else. He changed the subject.

"So, care to share what you're still doing in Mystic Falls?"

When he didn't get a reply he turned his head, only to see that she was gone. Oh, great, he had probably been talking to himself the entire time. With a scoff and a roll of his eyes he continued, eventually getting to the end of the forest. He was a few hundred meters away from where he had approximately pointed and he headed that way.

Sooner than he expected he saw the head of three people bob out of the water. They looked towards him and then dove back in. It didn't take long to see the shape of a black safe, inching towards the shore on the sand. Tyler ran around it, the waves crashing around them, and he stood at the front, pulling it with both hands.

Once they got it to the edge of the water they stopped.

"That was a workout," Caroline commented. Like Elena, she was in a tank top and jeans, and her feet were bare.

Tyler bent over the safe, the only thing he had on were his pants, "Is it just me or does this thing look more beat up than it should be?"

"Not just you. I just bought that safe before we decided to dump Silas in it," Damon said, coming closer.

"Well it's not ripped open," Elena said.

Tyler nodded, "I wouldn't put it past Issac to lie through his teeth."

"Are we going to open it?" Caroline voiced, glancing at her friends.

There wouldn't be a point would there? Since the safe isn't torn open Silas was inside. Unless he had some magical power that teleported him out. Though they also had no reason not to check it either. If Silas were awake, there were three healthy vampires ready to push him back in if he tried to get out.

"Yeah, move it," Damon stepped forward, leaning in so that he could twist the dial to unlock it. Once he heard the click he motioned for two of them to lift the door open. Tyler and Caroline complied.

Damon stood back, the water inside was foggy with sand. Before he saw anything Elena gasped.

* * *

_From the line of the trees Katherine stood. Her brows furrowed at what she was looking at. _

_Three… wait no, four people stood around a giant box. It looked metal. She could vaguely make out who they were but she could hear them. _

"_Oh my god!" the only blonde among them gasped. Caroline, what that Caroline Forbes?_

_The oldest one among them turned his head and shook it, from where she stood she could hear him swearing as he and the brunette beside him reached in and pulled out a person. _

_Katherine leaned forward. That was the Scooby gang. Oddly enough, she would recognize Damon's leather jacket and Elena's posture, and Tyler Lockwood's nicely formed abs anywhere. She didn't even ask herself what they were doing there. Or what she herself was doing there. _

_She stepped forward. Her eyes closed._

And then they opened.

Katherine shut them just as quickly as the sun hit her eyes; she groaned. Adjusting to the light, she sat up.

'_Where-?' _she thought, though one look around diminished her question. The Ridge of Elistear. Silas had taken her there. She looked at her hands. They were healed, though there were traces of dried blood on them both.

Hastily, she got on her feet. Silas was nowhere to be found. He wasn't there.

She didn't even have to think she just ran.

Though not exactly quite sure where to, she dashed off the hill and down into more trees. She just needed to get to anywhere but there.

The soft snap of a twig behind her made her turn her head but she didn't stop. Nobody. Nobody was back there. Though before she could stop she ran into something.

"Ugh," she landed on her ass, but she wasted no time on herself, she looked up. The cabin?

She could swear she had run in the opposite direction. With a sharp sigh she got up and turned, blurring away.

But soon she slowed, noticing the very same cabin not too far in the distance, in front of her.

"What the fu-," she began.

"Uh uh uh, language, Katerina," Silas appeared to her left, "do mind your manners."

Her heart leapt in her throat.

"Just a little failsafe," he said, and looked around, "in case you did manage to get out of that cage. You can't leave. Not consciously, at least."

"But we didn't come from the cabin…"

He smiled, "But you were with me."

Yes, though she still didn't know what he had done at the hill. She didn't want to ask. He didn't have any reason to answer.

"Actually, two thousand years of planning has made me _really _good at this. And something in me wants to gloat, even a little," he took one step closer, and she frowned. He had just read her thoughts again. From all their previous interactions she had thought so. Plus Bonnie had mentioned something about Silas being able to get into her head. But even then she still hadnt been sure as to whether or not she had just spoken without noticing but the incident on the hill confirmed just her suspicions. Silas could read her thoughts. She had been mentally screaming about being a sacrifice. And though it wasn't the first thing she noticed at the time, eerily, he had answered.

"We were talking about doppelgangers. And you, dear Katerina, are a doppelganger. Do you even know what that means?" he asked, his brows raising as if he were talking to a little child, "No, of course you don't. But I know, that you know, that your blood is special. Though not just as a human, as you've grown to think. It's special," he came towards her slowly and she reciprocated by backing away, "So special that countless spells require it, or anything as strong, in its ingredients."

Okay, but that still didn't explain what he had done on the hill—what happened.

"Didn't Bonnie tell you anything? I thought you were working together?"

Katherine cleared her throat, she didn't want him reading her any more than he could, "You... she said that you wanted the cure so you could die a mortal death. You wanted to be reunited with the other woman you betrayed Qetsiyah for."

Silas shook his head, "You really still think I'm Silas?"

The vampire narrowed her eyes. He was, right? He had yet to do anything to dispute that identity but then again she had heard about his abilities. Did he have the power to shift his skin? Or illusions maybe? Silas, after all, was supposed to have been a very powerful warlock. "If you're not then why not show your true face? Are you that hideous?"

He laughed.

"Oh Katerina," as he said her name his voice shifted to one that was a deeper, more familiar tone. Something shifted over his features, like a tiny, slow ripple, and suddenly Elijah stood in front of her. Katherine stepped back. Silas continued in Elijah's voice and Elijah's face, "You say the most ironic things."

He lifted his chin, holding her horrified gaze, and then the ripple came over him again, this time he turned into a she. In the clothes and 1864 hairstyle she had last seen her in, Pearl smiled at her, "What's wrong, Katherine?"

Katherine blinked and Pearl disappeared. A woman stood in her place, her brown hair in a braided bun, her clothes unmodern and her expression loving. Katherine almost choked on a sob that rose in her throat and she steadied herself with a hand to the tree beside her.

"_Oh my Katerina, how I've missed you,_" she said in Bulgarian and Katherine blinked at the tears in her eyes.

'_Mama,_' was on the tip of her tongue and as Silas came close to her, she forced herself not to reach out. Had her mother really looked like that? She appeared more kind and loving than her faded memories could conjure; her mother's last appearance having been bloodied and _dead_. Something Katherine hated to think about.

"_Five hundred and twenty one years, my love. You never returned to me as you promised._"

"Stop," Katherine shook her head, murmuring but her mother stayed, her expression softening as she reached out to caress her cheek.

"_I love you, Katerina."_

Katherine grimaced; despite consciously knowing it was only Silas she couldn't push her away, "Stop it."

With a crestfallen expression her mother's face twisted into a scowl.

"_Your father is right. You are a disgrace to our family,_" she disappeared as her hand moved away, laughing.

Katherine didn't move.

"Enough of these games. You've served your purpose," this time Elena stood in front of her, suddenly gripping her wrist firmly, "Now I need you to stay in one place."

Reaching over, her fingers slipped under the bracelet on Katherine's wrist and she yanked, snapping it off. Almost immediately Katherine's skin crawled, heat bubbling to the surface of her arms and her face. A sizzling sound and the smell of burning flesh rose into the air. Adrenaline rushed as Katherine pulled but it wasn't until her third tug that Elena let go.

Blurring backwards, she barged through the backdoor of the cabin and gripped the island in the middle. The image of her mother faded to the back of her mind.

He was a maniac. A psychotic man who spent his free time torturing. Earlier she had compared him to Klaus but she was wrong to do so. Silas was nothing like Klaus—he was worse, much worse.

"I told you, I'm not Silas," he appeared at the threshold, holding the screen door open, this time he was blonde and female. Caroline. She eyed her, her mind in full survival mode she didn't even notice the lack of healing her burns were getting. Katherine tried her best to avoid any open thoughts for her to pry into but it was hard.

Her wrist felt bare.

Caroline stepped forward. And Katherine rushed back, running to the living room and almost tripping over the coffee table.

Frantic, her eyes searched the room. Feeling a presence behind her she moved, only to have Caroline grab her ankle. Before she hit the floor, Katherine kicked at her, but she didn't let go.

"No!" she almost growled, using strength and speed at the same time to wrangle away her ankle. She stood, but Caroline was already on her, gripping her shoulders and tossing her back into the kitchen. She flew onto the island, plowing down all the items off of it. Caroline grabbed her by the collar and Katherine gripped her wrist, pulling to no avail.

"Where do you think you're going?" Caroline asked, "You can't walk in the sun."

"Anywhere away from you is better," Katherine said between her struggling.

"I told you earlier that doppelganger blood was special," the blonde leaned in towards her face as she whispered, "It's special because who your blood came from. As I've told you Tatiana isn't the original."

She didn't say anything, she didn't care, but the air around Caroline rippled and instead Elena was there again. Except, now that they were this close Katherine couldn't help but think that she looked different. She didn't have a red streak in her hair and she didn't hold that doe eyed expression her doppelganger possessed. No, and her eyes; they were the same piercing dark brown orbs she'd grown to associate with Silas. Katherine blinked, how had she not put it together before?

"You're the original Petrova," she said, shocked.

"Bravo," Irina congratulated, "the name is Irina."

"But how?"

"To clear just a tiny bit of that cluster of confusion, Qetsiyah had nothing to do with the immortality spell. But that's a story for another time, right now I have somewhere to be," with those words Irina easily picked her up by her collar, dragging her towards the door that led to the basement. At the notion of going back to that room she began struggling, but like always it didn't stop Irina.

Katherine landed in the middle of the vervaine room and quickly she stood up, forcing herself not to breathe. Silas now stepped through the door and she eyed him. Her heart thumped in her chest as the same deep brown eyes looked at her in a way that made everything in her scream to run. Adrenaline coursed through her, and despite her broken bracelet and nowhere to go, she knew that he…she wouldn't kill her. If she wanted to, she would've done so a long time ago.

'_You still needs me,' _she thought, knowing she would be reading her thoughts. Silas' eyes travelled over her.

She knew that look. It was one of predatory lust, and one she was all too familiar with. Katherine swallowed. What could she do? What could she say?

His lips twitched in a smile and without words Silas sped up from the door, pushing her to the wall and swiftly clamping her wrist with one of the shackles. She felt a hand on her back as he suddenly pulled her to him, blurring backwards. Katherine let out a shout when her shackled arm jerked back, but Silas' hand held her still, flushed against him. Lacing his fingers through her curls, he gripped and pulled hard, jerking her head back.

"I told you not to run," his breath on her ear made her shiver. And she felt his teeth sink into her skin, forcefully drawing her blood. A scream stuck in her throat and when she tried to push him with her free hand he held her tighter. Katherine shut her eyes and groaned; he relished in her pain, using his tongue to lap at any excess blood. He twisted his head, tearing skin and dug his fangs even deeper.

Her grip on his shoulder tightened and she could vaguely feel something warm and sticky slide through her fingers. He pried his teeth from her neck and then bit again, shredding more skin. She heard herself whimper.

A decreasing thud-dum beat slowly in her ears. Katherine blinked, fighting away the little black splotches that appeared at the corners of her eyes. Her vision swam in front her. Soon than later she felt herself melt into his chest as her knees gave out.

All the tension from her body was gone and it was then that Silas suddenly stopped, pushing his head back he gazed at her half lidded eyes. His bloodied mouth was parted and he held a grin. She couldn't move. From her line of vision she could see him lick his lips, blood dripping down his chin. But they weren't what stood out, it was the glow in his eyes, the faint golden colour that quickly disappeared.

"And to think my thirst was insatiable," he said, releasing his grip. She dropped to the floor with a hard thud, "It seems I just never found the right prey."

Silas fixed the collar of his shirt and Katherine watched as his feet headed out of the room. He shut the door and she closed her eyes. Her mind buzzed.

Vervaine subtly filtered through her lungs and the light was bright and harsh.

She didn't fall unconscious until hours later.

* * *

**A/N: **Stefan's been found and now Katherine knows who Irina is. And the hell is this woman up to anyways? Aha thanks for reading guys, and don't forget to review and tell me what you think! :D


	7. The Immortal

**Chapter Seven: The Immortal Part 1**

**A/N:** Wow its been a WHILE. But I've been super busy, so so sorry for the delay. Plus, went camping last weekend. Funfunfunn. Until I realized I got mildly sunburnt. It's weird cause only the top part of my arms were kinda red... but they didn't hurt, idk.

BUT THANK YOU THANKYOU so much for all your lovely reviews! And aw guys, I hear you, I look forward to writing the Silas-Irina/Katherine ones the most :D

* * *

Light filtered through Stefan's eye lids as he began to wake. He stirred. And a warm hand grasped his forearm.

Automatically, he reacted, jumping from where he lay and gripping a neck with one hand.

"Ste-Stefan," a voice choked out.

As his eyes traveled up every primal instinct he had rushed forward and he squeezed harder.

It was the last face he'd seen—smirking. The person who had put him in that hell of a coffin.

"Stefan!" Damon exclaimed as he entered the room and he dropped the mug of blood in his hands. He rushed towards his brother and Elena, and tried to push the former away from the latter. "What are you doing?!"

Stefan didn't budge.

"STOP!" Damon shouted since any physical effort on his part was useless.

The voice startled him and one look at his brother and Stefan blinked, snapping out of whatever state he had been in. He glanced at the person in his grip and immediately let go, jumping back as if in horror of what he had been doing, "Elena?"

Elena sat on the floor, rubbing her neck with a grimace.

"I—I'm so sorry," the younger Salvatore shook his head, his eyes wide.

"What the hell was that?!" Damon demanded.

Stefan continued to shake his head, staring at Elena and shutting his eyes as he brought his hands over his temples. Silas. No not Silas but the woman. She'd looked like Elena. She'd sounded like Elena. She had stuffed him in a safe and let him drown. The love of his life… no, the immortal. The first one. The one that had been Silas.

His head hurt.

What the hell was going on? Had he not been drowning? The last thing he remembered was water.

"Stefan!" Damon called out, shaking his shoulder. The younger Salvatore opened his eyes, meeting two concerned gazes of both Damon and Elena.

Damon.

And Elena.

_Damon, _and _Elena. _

He grimaced when instinctive pain flooded through his head and he gasped. This time nothing came into his lungs like he anticipated. Nothing but air.

Without his notice Elena ran and came back with a blood bag, handing it to the older Salvatore. Damon offered it to Stefan and he spoke, "Drink, Stefan. You need to gain your strength."

He eyed them both, his eyes holding suspicion. Was this real?

"Real?" Damon repeated and Stefan realized he had spoken out loud. Damon's brows furrowed, "Of course it is, Stefan. How else would you be in your room talking to us?"

That didn't assure him one bit. Hallucinations always felt real, and all this time he was pretty sure he was hallucinating whenever he found himself waking up anywhere other than dark waters. Stefan paused and blinked, deciding to reach out for the bag. So far he hadn't woken up back there and he would gladly take this feeling of liberation, however short it would be. Eagerly, he brought it to his lips and drank.

Elena and Damon shared a look.

When Stefan was done he took a deep breath and kept glancing around his room, surprised he was still there. He was still hungry but at least he felt a bit better. Then again, anything was better than the dark. He looked at his desk, his shelves, his door, and even the ceiling. Was he really out? Did… he stopped himself, looking at his brother and his ex, and finding it difficult to consciously think of them. He feared what came shortly after their names popped into his mind.

"Of course you are," Elena answered his last unspoken question, and for some reason that unnerved him, "You're out. You're home."

"We rescued you from the safe, Stefan," Damon said, catching his brother's attention, "What happened?"

Stefan blinked, clearing his thoughts and turning away from them both. He found it easier that way. He responded though, his voice a little rough, "I was put in the safe. Silas… he isn't who we thought he was."

"What?" that was Elena, and unconsciously, Stefan grimaced. She sounded just like… Stefan shook his head, forcing away those thoughts. That was _Elena _not Silas. "What do you mean?"

"Silas isn't Silas," he said, meeting Damon's eyes, "before I was locked up in that safe, he revealed himself to me. I'm pretty sure he," he shook his head, "no, _she_ wouldn't lie about that."

"She? Who's she?" Damon furrowed his brows, "And lie about what?"

"_She_ as in the person we all thought was Silas," Stefan clarified, shaking his head, "the first Immortal. We had it all wrong and she revealed herself after showing me that she wasn't Lexi. Lexi hadn't been with us since the boarding house was attacked. And… and she claimed that she made the immortality spell two thousand years ago and that…"

Stefan looked away, briefly glancing to Elena, who had gone quiet as the brothers spoke. After he explained what happened he wanted to clear his head. He wanted some time alone. Time without any physical or emotional suffocation.

"She said that her name was Irina _Petrova_."

The silence that met him made him look up.

"Wait, what?" Damon asked, more as a confirmation that he actually heard him right.

"Who's Irina Petrova?" Elena voiced. She glanced at them both.

Stefan took a deep breath, consciously thanking that it was air he was breathing, before he explained, "The Immortal we all thought was Silas. Her name is Irina Petrova, or at least she claimed to be," his eyes landed on Elena, "She looked like you and she told me that that was her true face before she pushed me off the cliff."

"There's another doppelganger?" Stefan didn't see Elena's expression when he looked away but he heard the shock in her voice.

"Hold up. That doesn't make sense. I hate to admit it but I know for fact that Katherine was the only doppelganger with the Petrova surname," Damon argued.

Stefan sighed and more so muttered, "She claimed to be the original."

"But Silas has been buried for over two thousand years. Are we supposed to believe that the doppelganger line started way back then?"

"She doesn't exactly have any reason to lie, Damon," he said, "I mean if she was Silas, what reason would she have to lie? Why would she throw—"

Stefan paused, his sentence ending with 'me over the cliff?' but he stopped short, something more pressing coming to mind. He swallowed, reaching out to Damon and grabbing his shoulder, "She knows you're human."

Damon grunted at his grip, shrugging him off and furrowing his brows further, "Huh?"

"She was here the whole time. She was Lexi. She was with Elena, and with me and with everyone the _entire_ day. She could be anyone," his eyes were wide, the horror of Silas—or Irina, coming to him full force. She had impersonated his _best friend_. Someone he had known for over a hundred years. Someone he knew like the back of his hand. How had she done that?

Suddenly, he paused eyeing Damon and then his eyes landing on Elena. Irina could be anyone. More on instinct, Stefan immediately shut his mouth. Elena's expression mirrored Damon's furrowed one and they shared another look.

"What is it, Stefan?" Elena asked, concerned.

He shook his head in response, "Nothing, I'm… I just want to be alone for a while."

Damon opened his mouth in what Stefan knew to be protest but Elena nudged him and he glanced to her, "What?"

Ignoring the elder Salvatore, Elena nodded, "Okay, if you need anything, we'll be downstairs."

Damon frowned glancing to his brother and then to Elena but he headed for the door without another word.

Before she followed him, Elena caught Stefan's eyes, "You're safe here, Stefan. We're here for you," she bit her lips, deciding not to make a move towards him, but her eyes were sincere, "_I'm_ here for you."

Stefan held her gaze and it was him who blinked and looked away. Without another word Elena left.

* * *

The first time Katherine's eyes fluttered open all she could remember was the pain.

Inevitable, numbing pain. Everything hurt and it surrounded her. The light made her sight blurry. She couldn't see anything and at the moment she didn't want to do anything.

With no real desire to get up, darkness swallowed her once more.

_She was in a field. One that seemed endless with no trees to border the ends. Now this was familiar. She had been there before, in her dreams, as a human and especially after she had turned. It was just her imagination, she knew, but it was an escape. A paradise she would quickly trade anything to have in real life if anyone offered it. _

_Turning around Katherine came face to face with a quaint little house. One that had changed over the centuries of her existence, this time more modern, but the meaning was all the same. Home._

"_Mama!" a little girl exclaimed running towards her with something shiny in her hand, "Look what I caught!"_

_As always Katherine paused, her eyes scanning the girl, no more than six years of age, with short dark hair and chocolate coloured eyes to match. This was _her_ daughter. The one that had been taken. And the one who she had lost track of conveniently around the age of six. _

_Without her consent Katherine moved, bending down to the little girl's eye level and she heard herself uncharacteristically speak, "Wow! That's a pretty big fish. Did you catch that all by yourself?"_

_The little girl grinned, dimples showing on her cheeks as she shook her head, "No, dyado taught me!"_

_For a moment Katherine paused, the last memories of her father having been scowling and cursing as he sent her away. But even then, he had always somehow ended up in this little fairy tale of hers. _

"_Katerina," her mother's voice called from behind and without hesitating she turned around expecting to meet her. _

_Except there was nothing. Just fields and fields of green. _

_She glanced back to her daughter, only to find the spot she had been standing on empty and the house and the lake behind it gone. _

"_Katerina," the voice called this time sounding different._

_Where was that coming from?_

"_Katherine, sweetie," it sounded familiar but she couldn't place it. _

"It's okay, you'll be okay," the voice spoke and Katherine woke up. Her eyes fluttering open as something cold was pressed to her forehead. A cloth.

"There you are," an old woman hovered over her, her hand using a cloth to wipe over her forehead, moving down her face to her neck. Katherine gently pushed her hand away as she sat, surprised to find herself in a bedroom as supposed to the cell she last remembered. "You still have a little blood on you. Are you okay? Do you want to wash up?"

Her eyes travelled to the old woman whose skin was pale and whose hair was white. Despite that though, she looked oddly familiar. "Do I know you?"

"Oh!" the woman exclaimed, genuinely surprised, "You mustn't recognize me with all these wrinkles," she smiled, offering her name, "Mrs. Jones?"

'_Mrs. Jones?' _her brows knitted together, quickly raising when it hit her. Rosana Jones. As in the half and a century old witch who had managed to keep a spell to _really_ slow her aging. The witch who owed her a favour and lived thousands of miles away in Arizona? Now wait—what in the world was she doing there? Or more importantly, where were was there anyway?

"Rosana?" she asked and sat up, scanning the aging woman's face. And why was she aging? The last time she had seen the woman a couple weeks ago, she had still looked the _young_ age of sixty, bordering on seventy. Though whatever happened to the old woman was the last of her concerns at the moment. When Mrs. Jones nodded Katherine's eyes drifted off around the room. The walls were generically wooden but the furniture and everything in the bedroom radiated of smells and memories. She frowned. And then she noticed the empty blood bags and the basin of dark coloured water with a cloth.

She was in a wooden house. Was she still in that cabin? Her eyes travelled to the patiently smiling woman in front of her, was this Irina messing with her head? With a cautious mind Katherine asked, "What's going on? Where are we?"

"At a little cabin in the woods. You remember Grace, my granddaughter? This is her home. I know she has said it already but thank you," Mrs. Jones reached out and held her hand in thanks. Katherine pulled back, confused. Her granddaughter? Hadn't she gone missing? For the past twenty years? And thank her? What had Katherine supposedly done?

"What are you talking about?"

"Just a day after your visit Grace came to my shop and told me what happened. She really had been taken by the supernatural, as I always suspected, and somehow you found her and rescued her! But you were separated. Why hadn't you told me when you came to see me?"

'_Oh god, you really have gone nuts,' _Katherine thought. None of what she had said had ever happened. If it did, she would have easily used that information to gain a little more knowledge about the cure and who she then thought was Silas when she came to the witch for some answers. She knew the old lady was holding out on her, but her mind—as presented there—was already deteriorating, so she didn't know if she could trust any information she could get from her anyhow. She had left when she realized that and it seemed—if she was right—Irina had come soon after.

"Where is your granddaughter, Rosana?" she asked. Maybe if Irina wasn't there Katherine could leave or at least find a way to earn some advantage.

"Oh she's gone out to get some things. Some food and supplies, it's hard to live out here, so far from any town," Mrs. Jones pondered off and Katherine nodded. Good, maybe she could even take a shower, like Rosana first promised when she woke up.

"Great. Would you mind leaving me for a few moments? I'd really appreciate a shower right about now."

"Oh, of course dear! Why didn't you mention it sooner. There are clothes in that dresser over there. You and Grace are about the same size," she reached out again and squeezed her hand and Katherine returned it with a tight smile as the old woman left with surprising amount of speed, "I'll just be down stairs!"

Alone at last the doppelganger dropped back into the bed. A beat later she was on her feet. She headed to the attached bathroom and noticed the clean towel on the rack waiting for her. She almost didn't want to touch it at the notion that it was Irina who intended that for her and she didn't want to do anything the original expected her to do. But she was dirty, and she probably even smelled really bad too—what with all the blood and dust she'd recently been rolling in.

Turning on the water she took her time taking off her clothes to wait for the water to turn into the right temperature. She stepped in, taking as long as she thought she could afford, and still have a good amount of time to scout out the cabin for her leverage.

When she got out Katherine felt clean, and if she wasn't still a prisoner she would be also feel grateful. She came into the room and pulled open the dresser Rosana had pointed out earlier, seeing that there were indeed clothes there. Picking through it Katherine found something she remotely liked and put it on. When she was done she noticed for the first time the curtains. They were drawn close and she wondered what time of day it was.

Mindful of her bare wrist, she pulled one window open and immediately sunlight filtered through.

Great, it was morning. She couldn't go out. At least not if she didn't want to burn. Closing the curtain, Katherine took one last look around the room and headed out. Going to the empty hall she found two other doors, one that led to another empty bedroom and one that led to a useless towel closet. When she went down the stairs it led to the front door and for moment she stared at it. All she had to do was cross that threshold and she'd be free. Never mind that little trick Irina had where Katherine was always led back to the cabin. If she was out, she would worry about that later. All she wanted at the moment was to not be in that cabin.

Shaking her head, she walked over to the living room she had been in earlier. It was attached to the kitchen and the dining room which were both attached to each other. Rosana stood in the kitchen chopping up some vegetables. Doing a full sweep of the place Katherine found that whoever had lived there prior to Irina was neat and incredibly human. Katherine couldn't find a single thing that she could turn into some sort of weapon or any hidden room that held anything useful.

She sighed, rolling her eyes. Irina had been right about one thing, she had a two thousand year advantage and whatever Katherine could potentially find, the immortal most likely thought of and threw out the window.

"I'm home!" the front door opened and closed, and a girl around the age of sixteen came in. She stopped, looking to Katherine.

She had blonde hair and brown eyes—brown like Irina's. Mrs. Jones had blue eyes, and the picture that Katherine had once seen in her shop showed that her granddaughter held the same trait. This was Irina, and she was blatantly letting her doppelganger know that.

"Grace, good to have you back safe," Mrs. Jones said, appearing around the corner.

"Good to be home, grams. I have everything outside, can you go and get them? I'll help you out once I speak to Katherine. I never did get to appropriately thank her the first time," she said and with a nod and a sweet smile to the grandchild she thought she had lost Mrs. Jones left out the front door.

'_Just more proof that she really has gone past just hallucinating,'_ Katherine thought. Poor woman, Irina had found a weakness and used it to her advantage.

The door shut and when her gaze landed back on the girl, Katherine saw a mirror of herself.

Irina smirked, "Lovely woman. Though I did ponder why you kept her around but after my first drink I understood. Real tasty, even for her age."

Katherine frowned, she never _kept_ Mrs. Jones around. In 1887, she had stumbled upon a five year old girl who she found out to be a witch. Saving her life had been easy, keeping her loyalty had been a much harder task. All in all, after Emily Bennett, Katherine found that it was much simpler to keep her allies further. She only ever came to Rosana when she _really _needed some answers and even then, annoyingly, she would only reveal what she thought Katherine "deserved" to know.

"I wouldn't know; never was stupid enough to attack a witch," she rolled her eyes, wanting nothing more than to not be there. It had been established that Irina needed Katherine, and the latter finally didn't care whether or not she held her tongue since Irina clearly did what she pleased–no matter if Katherine was playing along or not.

"And yet here I stand. But of course, of course; Katerina, always the cautious one," Irina rolled her own eyes in light humor and she moved towards her doppelganger, "but I didn't _attack_ Mrs. Jones, as you so lightly put it. In fact, she offered herself to me. Did you know that if a witch willing offered her blood to you that you can harness their power?"

Yes, actually, she did know that, but she had never tried it. Emily had never offered, and there was no loop hole for a vampire to make a witch share anything. Not that Katherine ever wanted to anyhow, that's what witches were for. They could harness their own power, it was much easier to manipulate someone than trying to take away a part of them. And besides witches were picky, they knew better than to share blood with a vampire or any other supernatural being. One, because blood, as always, held power. And two, because it held life. That was probably why Mrs. Jones was finally aging after all these years.

"What about it?" Katherine said.

"Well, as an immortal I am no longer a witch. I guess that answers the _how_ on how I cast that spell at the Ridge. But have you figured out the why?" Irina asked, coming close and pointing a finger, "or what it did to you?"

She almost had her for a second but Katherine shook her head, "Does it even matter?"

"Why, Katerina, for you, it's a life or death situation. So I thought you of all people would like to know."

_Life or death? _

"Yes, exactly as I said," Irina responded, pausing momentarily and giving her doppelganger a one over as if analyzing her thoughts, "You wanted my immortality did you not?"

Katherine's brows furrowed.

"Well, my dear Katerina, I've given you the next best thing."

* * *

"What was that?" Damon voiced, once they both got to the study.

Elena stopped beside him as he went to pour himself a drink.

"Could you be any less sensitive, Damon?" she asked, pertaining to Stefan. She almost shook her head.

"What?" he scoffed, sipping his drink, "I'm just trying to find out what the hell is going on! I mean Silas or whatever that he-she claims to be is running around out there. He did that to Stefan and if he wants he'll easily do it to the rest of us," he reasoned. Elena could tell that that wasn't the only thing he was frustrated about and this new problem had just been added to their already towering pile of things they had to sort through. "I mean why hasn't _Irina _come around? Why hasn't _she_ attacked us yet? Or come looking for little Bennett? Or, for the more obvious question, why hasn't she come to kill us for using the cure she'd been bent on since the stupid island?"

Elena blinked, of course Damon had a point. They really—more than anything—needed to find some answers.

"She knows already…," Elena said with furrowed brows, "this is giving me a headache. If she's the original Petrova then what in the world would she want?"

"Well maybe if you hadn't pushed me out of there we might have some answers."

The doppelganger shook her head, "That was my point. We have to ease up on him. I don't think Stefan knows anything. He was stuck in that safe for a whole week! I can't even imagine what he went through."

Damon grew quiet and Elena's eyes turned to him as he took another sip of his bourbon.

"You know what? Silas is the same person as Irina. So whatever we thought Silas wanted can't be too far off, if not the same, goal as Irina's goal, right?" she reasoned.

"Yeah, but he wanted the veil down and the cure, and that just brings us back to why the hell he still hasn't come."

Right.

"Maybe she's gone off to look for another way to get the cure. She was alive when it was first made. Maybe it can be made again?" Elena felt like she was reaching but, unless Irina somehow accidentally killed herself, it also felt like the only explanation. "She stuffed Stefan in the safe to get him out of the way and now she's gone."

Damon shook his head, "No. She's a doppelganger or, well the original. She's connected to you Elena. I doubt 'the powers that be' will simply let that one connection slip. She'll want something, or at least _need_ something from you."

That was what Elena was afraid of. Every supernatural connection was always in existence for a reason, and there was no way that Irina being the original and Elena being a doppelganger meant nothing. Even if she wished just this once that fate would let this little fact slide and have them free of whatever two thousand year old dilemma Irina was trying to fix up.

Elena sighed, "You're right. But we still don't know anything."

"Like chickens with their heads cut off," Damon commented, "We need to find a way to get some information from two thousand years ago."

"You don't know anyone, do you?"

"If I did, Elena, don't you think I would've pulled them out when we first went looking for the cure?"

True but no one could be too sure with Damon Salvatore. A short silence of thinking hung over them, breaking only when Elena looked to the door leading to the hall.

"Did you hear that?" she asked and she saw Damon roll his eyes. Elena frowned apologetically, "Human. Sorry."

"Elena!" Jeremy called out from another part of the house and quickly she ran. Knowing his own house like the back of his hand, Damon quickly followed.

In the living room Jeremy stood. Issac stood behind him with a knife to the younger man's throat. He smirked.

"Nice place you have here, it'd be a shame if I spilt any blood on your pretty floors," he commented, tugging Jeremy back, "now, before I cut this guy's throat open. Someone tell me where the hell can I find the immortal?"

* * *

**A/N: **Dyado is "grandfather" in Bulgraian, cross my fingers l used itproperly**. **And hopefully I didn't lose too many readers! Tell me what you think! And man, does anyone have any predictions on what will come next? Or what anything means?


	8. Moirai

**Chapter Eight: Moirai**

**A/N: **SO back to updating. Late but updating :D

* * *

"Wait!" Elena shouted, shaking her head. "Don't, please don't do this."

Issac laughed, "Do what? This?" he pulled his grip on Jeremy's hair exposing his neck where the hunting knife he held glistened. Her brother grunted.

"Tell me where the immortal is and I won't have to."

"Okay, buddy, I'd recommend you do not do anything stupid to piss us off," Damon warned beside her, his voice was cool and free of any concern.

Elena bit her bottom lip, looking to Damon and then following his gaze where Jeremy held onto Issac's forearm. On his finger was the Gilbert ring. Hunters were technically supernatural—_though was _Jeremy_ still a hunter?—_but nothing about being easily revived justified Jeremy dying, again. That is, if it could revive him in the first place.

"Oh was that a threat?" he raised a brow, pressing the knife into Jeremy's skin and drawing a tiny ounce of blood. Elena smelt it before her brother grunted and she lunged before Issac could say another word. She grabbed Jeremy's shoulder, pushing him away and without thinking she bit down, sinking her fangs into Issac's shoulder.

There was a shout as they both crashed to the floor.

"Elena, no!" a voice yelled And it didn't sound like Damon.

She swallowed once, and then before she could do so again something at the back of her throat stung, burning quickly up to the tip of her tongue. She gagged and immediately let go, flinging herself away from him. Elena coughed, vaguely seeing as Stefan lunged for Issac. There were two pressure shots of air and Stefan dodged one while unintentionally moving into the path of the other. He fell to the ground and hissed through his teeth, reaching for the stake but growling when it burned on touch.

"Vervaine," Issac said, holding a crossbow in one hand, and covering his bite mark with the other, "You're the stupid ones if you didn't think I came prepared."

Elena closed her eyes, fighting off the poison flooding through her system, but it was no use.

From behind her lids she heard a laugh and then a short struggle. There was a crash of wood and Elena forced her eyes open to blurry figures. One man held another's arm in a dead grip behind his back, the latter man on his knees. She didn't know who was who but her eyes fluttered shut and the last thing she heard was a snap and a shout.

* * *

Damon shouted, the sharp pain that shot through his entire left arm stayed and he clenched his jaw. Issac let go and the sudden movement made him grunt, his right hand automatically coming to support his arm.

He lay on his side, on the floor, intending to open his eyes and glare at the damn hunter but the pain didn't go away like he was used to. It lingered and he held his breath, and whatever he had broken he could feel the pain increasing.

"You're human?" Issac's voice spoke and he tilted his head, "Oops! My ba-."

There was a thud and Damon pried his lids open.

"And I think you should just stop talking," Caroline shook her head and he couldn't think of any other time he'd been so relieved to see the blonde.

"Caroline, he's a hunter!" Tyler hissed, coming into view. Ignoring them, Damon took a second before forcing himself to sit up.

"Relax, Tyler. I heard your warning. He's not dead," Caroline said, looking at the man on the ground and then moving towards her friends, "Just knocked out."

"Like these two," the hybrid pointed towards both Stefan and Elena. He stopped himself before he could reach for the stake lodged into Stefan's middle. He made a face, "I can hear it sizzling, and smell it. There's vervaine."

Damon reached over himself, angling his shoulder as gently as he could and positioning his arm in a more comfortable way. He pushed himself up just as he saw Jeremy getting up from where Elena had basically flung him. The young man rubbed the back of his neck.

"Am I glad to see you guys," he said, going over to check on his sister before moving to where Tyler crouched over Stefan. Jeremy gripped the stake pulling it out with a jerk. From where he was, Damon could see that Stefan hadn't so much as moved. Neither had Elena. The vervaine had knocked them out cold and they would probably wake after most of it left their system.

"If you kids are done speculating I think everyone can agree that this guy needs to have a little time out," he kicked his boots at Issac's cross bow before not so gently nudging at his head. "Chaining him up downstairs would be smart."

The three turned to him, eyeing the way he held his arm still, though Damon would like to think he was simply just crossing his arms. Caroline took a deep breath, nodding, but it was Tyler who spoke.

"I'll take him down. Caroline, you and Jeremy get Elena and Stefan somewhere… besides the floor."

When they all dispersed Damon huffed a breath, hating what just happened. He'd been doing that a lot lately but with good reason. His arm was killing him and neither Barbie nor Beethoven had offered any sort of relief. But that didn't surprise him, he wasn't _dying_ after all and he could bet that they at least had a tiny bit of something to smile about at his misfortune.

He curled his fists, his anger coming back to him as his much earlier negative thoughts came at him. If he wanted to, he could blame this all on one thing; the cure. And he did.

If the cure never existed no one would be in any sort of mess. Most of all him. The stupid witches from two thousand years ago, never should've been affecting their lives now but it did and it had most of all turned him human. If he thought about it, he wouldn't have even met Vaughn who was looking for Silas, or Irina or whatever.

He stopped himself from throwing anything in the already messy living room and a deep breath calmed his anger just as something that he had previously brushed off occurred to him once more. His face lit up. Why he still hadn't gone there, he didn't know, but right then was a good a time as any.

Gripping his shirt around his ribs to keep his arm steady, he picked up his jacket with his free hand on his way out the door. There was somewhere he _really_ needed to be. Somewhere he could finally put this human thing to rest.

* * *

Katherine's head leaned ever so slightly forward. _'The next best thing?'_

"Well that sure attained your attention," Irina smiled.

Curiously, Katherine wanted to know what she meant by that though she hated her predecessor's timing. Everything she said, all the things that needed explaining, came in little, tiny snippets and to say that she appreciated it would just be wrong.

Though what _would_ be the "next best thing" to absolute immortality? She had never thought that there was an in between to vampiric immortality and whatever kind of immortality Irina possessed. And to claim that she had _given_ it to her? From experience no one _gave_ anything without something in return, and even if that were the case Katherine felt no difference. She shook her head, "What does that even _mean_?"

Irina's eyes dropped, raising back to meet Katherine's as she lifted her chin, "Do you know of the Moirai from the ancient Greek mythologies?"

Katherine bit her tongue. There it was. Yet another question unanswered.

"The Moirai, and as I've found, more commonly known in English as the Fates, were the incarnations of what was said to be destiny. They controlled the metaphorical threads of life, and clipped them when eternal laws deemed that life should end."

The doppelganger blinked, subtly rolling her eyes. She had no interest in Greek mythology and she had no patience to decipher whatever metaphor Irina was using the myth for—if she even were. Nothing made sense and she wasn't about to start grasping for straws she didn't even have. She sighed, seeing that Irina was looking at her for some sort of response.

"Your point?" she said, not bothering to mask her impatience.

There was a short pause, one where Irina's smile only grew, amused. "I'll gladly show you what I did once you do one little thing for me."

Katherine straightened, a favour? What exactly could she do that Irina couldn't already?

"Nothing extravagant," her predecessor voiced, glancing briefly at the tips of her fingers, "I just need you to fetch someone for us."

Fetch? She was getting a chance to get out of there? She bit her lips, licking them as she listened, trying to contain her sudden excitement at the opportunity. She didn't need to ask who it was, Irina would mention it herself.

"You know her, Katerina. In fact, I'm fairly certain you're related."

Her brows furrowed as one name stood out to her, "Elena?"

For a brief moment Katherine wondered why, and then she remembered that if she were a doppelganger of the Immortal, then so was Elena doe-eyed Gilbert.

Irina chuckled, "We all share the same eyes, Katerina."

'_Of course, but that expression is _not_ something that I have,'_ Katherine thought, brushing off the mind reading.

Irina shrugged, "There's a hunter in town looking for me and as everyone scrambles for answers I'd _really _appreciate the privacy. Don't tell a soul, and maybe when the time comes I'll even have you be the one to stake your 'doe-eyed' other half."

Reaching into her pocket the Immortal pulled out a bracelet, dangling it in front of Katherine. "I'll give this to you after I help poor Mrs. Jones. I think I've kept her waiting long enough."

She stuffed it back where she got it from before Katherine could ask how it was still intact and headed to the front door. She paused, turning over her shoulder at her doppelganger, "Don't go anywhere."

Once the door shut Katherine rolled her eyes at the obvious jab. If she hadn't made it clear already, she really wanted out of that place. And it seemed wishes did come true. She sat on the couch after glancing out the little window on the door to see Rosana and Grace pulling things out of a yellow car.

There were a lot of things that she wanted answered. She could've asked _why_ Irina would just give her the next best thing to her own immortality but she already knew she'd only receive more cryptically vague answers. One thing Katherine hated more than those who had power over her was not knowing. Details were important, always. And even when she wasn't listening she was always retaining information. Knowledge was what gave her an edge—an advantage she had always used in order to survive.

Which was why, even as she feared her, Irina was constantly on her nerves.

Katherine rubbed her temples, leaning her head back onto the couch. So what did she know anyways?

For one, Irina had needed—no, _still_ needed her for something. Because why ever would she need Katherine to just fetch Elena when she could do that herself? She didn't even need to shape shift her way into deceiving anyone, they already shared the same face. She could impersonate Katherine and easily have the last laugh against everyone, especially if she'd planning on _killing_ Elena Gilbert.

She rolled her eyes, she would gladly jump at a chance to end such a waste of space but what made Irina think that Katherine would stay around after she let her go?

Another thing she knew was that Rosana was being completely manipulated, which meant that that was one ally gone. Also the little predicament that Irina wasn't only immortally indestructible but also packing in some witch power.

And lastly, that spell at the Ridge hadn't taken something from her like she would've guessed, but instead had given her something. Something to be demonstrated with Elena's death or so she claimed.

It was something she curiously wanted to know but also something she wasn't willing to risk her life finding out. So maybe Irina would have a few threats that would force her to stay a little longer but she'd had enough time with her predecessor to last a lifetime. When the time came, Katherine would not hesitate to run like hell.

* * *

Damon huffed out a breath as he rounded a corner, smoothly dodging machines and people in blue scrubs. The ride over to the hospital hadn't been short enough to keep his temper down and he was pissed. Pissed over that stupid ass hunter. Pissed over the stupid ass cure. And pissed over everything else in general.

Even as he walked towards a very probable solution he couldn't get himself to stop being so mad. So irrational—or now that he thought about it, actually being rational. Especially not when a big part of his frustration was attached to him, gripping his shirt as he tried his best to stop any unnecessary movements.

It was midday, so the hospital was actually a bit more busy than usual and even without vampire stealth and a broken arm he maneuvered his way through without a hitch. He found the office he was looking for faster than he thought and after a quick glance around he slipped in.

He pulled the blinds closed and didn't bother to glance around the office; already knowing exactly where the item he needed was. He glanced to the door, his eyes travelling over a paper cluttered desk. If doctors were a statistically organized group of people he knew Meredith Fell wasn't a part of said group.

Shadows passing by at the bottom of the doors made Damon pause. And when he shook away the paranoia, he pulled the small fridge open pushing past some vials and picking up a rack of the only ones with unlabeled blood.

"What are you doing in here?"

He stopped short and clumsily, almost dropped what he held. His eyes darted to Meredith who stood at the door.

"Uhh," his eyes rolled as he looked for an excuse and for some damn reason he couldn't generate one quick enough.

"Damon," Meredith shook her head, putting down the case files in her hands and looking at him. _Really _looking at him. "You really did turn human, huh?"

He pursed his lips with a sigh, pushing the vials back into the fridge and closing it, "Yeah, you caught me. Now help me out. Which ones have vampire blood?"

He was guessing about the unlabeled ones, because they could easily be unlabeled human blood for testing, or whatever doctors used them for.

Meredith eyed him, "You want to turn back."

"Of course I do! What kind of question is that?"

"Why don't you just ask Elena?"

He almost choked. That hadn't crossed his mind because, him? Ask Elena? The same person who would definitely slap him for even thinking of wasting the cure without giving humanity at least another month? A month he wouldn't be willing to wait for? Heck, he didn't want to wait another second.

He laughed and Meredith frowned, nodding as if she understood. There was a short pause after he was done and when nothing was said any further, Meredith came around her desk and pulled out one vial of blood. She gave it to him.

"What are the chances of you turning on your own blood?" she asked, also eyeing the way he held his left arm. She didn't ask.

Damon's eyes narrowed. Was that even possible?

"This one's mine?"

The doctor shook her head, "The one I gave Elena was the last I had of yours. That's someone else's," she shrugged, "Not exactly a normal question though, huh?"

No one had ever been turned back human. So no, no one had also ever encountered having to turn on their own blood. But that was trivial, and he didn't care.

"Don't stop me," he said, eyeing the doctor, "because you can't."

"I just handed it to you," she rolled her eyes, "what makes you think I have any intention to babysit you, Damon?"

She sat on her chair and Damon went around the desk. He licked his lips, uncorking the vial and glancing at Meredith who simply watched with curiosity. The thought that now that he was human and therefore blood wouldn't taste good crossed his mind before he tipped his head, drinking it all in one gulp.

He made a face as he swallowed, the coppery taste sliding smoothly down his throat. There was a sudden crack on his shoulder and he groaned, feeling the familiar healing as pain left his arm.

"So now what?" the doctor voiced, raising her brows.

"Now?" he repeated, massaging his shoulder, "Now I find a way to—"

Something jumped in his stomach and immediately he felt sick. He bent over in sudden pain. His throat burned as he began coughing and his hands came to his throat. Meredith stood up so quickly she was beside him in an instant. He fell on his knees.

"Damon? What's going on?" she was a doctor, and her instincts must've been screaming for a way to help him, but she didn't even know what was happening. And neither did he.

Damon heaved and coughed, and he could feel something travel up his throat. His eyes shut as what he ingested last came right back up. Blood spewed on the floor and when it was all gone, Damon leaned back onto who was supporting him, breathing heavily.

"Is that...?" Meredith began, rubbing Damon's back.

"The vampire blood?" he nodded, certain on what had happened.

He swallowed, and this time, as realization hit, it wasn't anger that came to him, it was despair. His shoulders sagged as his eyes lowered and he muttered more to himself than anyone, "I can't… I can't turn back."

* * *

**A/N: **This chapter was shorter than usual :( but BY THE WAY _Guest_, you're incredibly sweet, I don't think I deserve such praising words, they mean a lot. ANDD THANK YOU to _ALL_ those who reviewed. It's incredibly nice to hear from my frequent readers, that I know of lol you know who you are, :) AND glad you haven't lost interest after that hiatus.


	9. Mutual Advantage

**Chapter Nine: Mutual Advantage**

**A/N: **It seems when I try to update sooner I procrastinate even more… nguh. SO, damn this chapter is long! Well _was_ long. And honestly one of those chapters I was really excited to write, so obviously it became long. I split it into two cuz I don't want another 20+ pages in one upload like graduation parts 1&2… I promise though to put up the second part in a day, or two. After I look over it.

It kinda didn't turn out exactly how I pictured it but enjoy! And I am eternally sorry for typos and things of the sort

* * *

"_Remember, you have only until tonight," Elena spoke. She stood at a porch watching as a figure walked away, disappearing into the trees._

_Eyes narrowed, she glanced around at the unfamiliar setting and then back to where she had last seen the figure. Where was this? And who had that been?_

_Suddenly curious, Elena followed, going down the steps and towards the line of trees. Her eyes narrowed as she caught glimpse of flowing curls and high heeled boots. Katherine. Before she could lose sight of her doppelganger Elena ran towards her, vampire speed whipping away reaching branches and leaves. _

_She came to a halt at a clearing and when she scanned it, it seemed she was alone. _

"_No, please!" a cry came from her left, not too far away and in seconds Elena was off once again. _

_A hand gripped her shoulders, pulling her back before she cleared another line of trees. _

"_Wait!" someone hissed into her ear._

_Turning to the voice she came face to face with a boy, roughly around her age or maybe younger. He had emerald green eyes and light brown curls that fell short of his chin. Almost innocent in a way that didn't match his expression. _

"_Don't you go there," he said, his eyes boring into her. She took a step back._

"_Let—" Elena pulled from his grasp, only to fall on the ground at the lack of hands that should've been holding her._

"—_go!" a voice echoed her unfinished words and Elena looked up. Her brows drew together. _

_A girl with wispy dark curls and a dress that was remarkably unmodern pulled herself away from the boy. Elena blinked rapidly, trying to process what she was seeing. Her face, she looked just like— _

"_Please!" the boy begged, reaching out but not touching the girl, "He's not—"_

"_I know," the girl interrupted, emphasizing, "but there's no chance that I am leaving him."_

_The boy scanned her face, his own full of concern but he did nothing as she walked away from him._

_Elena's head turned as her gaze followed the girl—Katherine? Though there was no way that was her. She seemed… different. Too different, even if in another time. Her head filled with confusion and she turned back to the boy._

Elena's cheek felt the pillow before she hit it and her eyes fluttered open.

She blinked as hardwood walls met her sight.

"Elena!" Caroline gasped, rushing to hug her friend, "you're awake! I was just about to leave too."

"Caroline?"

"Mhm, are you okay? How do you feel?"

"Huh?" she shook her head, trying to push back the image of the girl and the boy in her dream as she tried to think. "What happened again?"

"You were knocked out by vervaine and I thought I'd check up on you before I left. So, you're okay right?"

"Yes," Elena shook her head, clearing out her thought. That's right, Issac attacked the boarding house and tried to threaten them, "I'm good, Care. But Jeremy?"

"He's fine. Just a little cut," she assured, her brows knitted together soon after, "That must've been one serious bite. You were out longer than Stefan."

"Stefan and Damon, are they okay too? The last thing I remembered was attacking Issac…," Elena trailed off thinking.

Caroline nodded, "They're okay, no one's hurt anymore."

"Anymore?"

"That hunter did some damage. But it's all good now. You were really kind of the only one still suffering under any hunter after-attack effects. So now that you're awake everyone's back to normal."

Elena raised her brows, "How long has it been?"

"Just a day. Are you hungry? Do you want some blood? It's in the kitchen."

"Yeah, I do actually," she got up, walking beside her friend. "What happened to Issac?"

"He's in the basement right now," the blonde informed her. "Tyler's been down there trying to get him to talk. You know, about the Immortal and all. He's been looking for Silas this whole time, he should know a thing or two."

Elena stopped in her tracks, the moment before Issac attacked, Stefan had handed them all that bombshell of information. Irina Petrova. The original doppelganger. The Immortal Issac seemed hell bent on finding. Was that the girl in her dream?

"Caroline, I need to tell you something," Elena began and the other vampire raised her brows in attention, "have you talked to Stefan?"

"Not really. He just woke up a couple hours ago too I haven't really gotten to ask him anything."

The brunette nodded with a sigh, "Before Issac came Stefan told me and Damon something. He said that the person that put him in that safe and the one we all thought was Silas actually isn't."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"She introduced herself to Stefan as Irina Petrova. The original doppelganger."

"_What_?" Caroline's eyes widened, "As in the original original?!"

Elena nodded.

"Wait _what_?!" Caroline's face was incredulous as she processed this information in her head, "So, Silas is actually a girl named Irina? But wait! Isn't she two thousand years old? Isn't that before even the Originals?"

"Yeah that's what I don't understand. It doesn't make much sense," she shrugged at her friend as they began down the stairs.

Caroline blinked, a million questions suddenly bombarded her thoughts, "What part? The doppelgangers or everything in general?"

Elena huffed out a laugh, "The doppelgangers mostly. I don't even want to think about what she might want right now."

The blonde's brows knitted together as they both got to the kitchen. Caroline took a seat at the island and Elena headed to the fridge, pulling out a bag of blood. She poured some in a mug and put it in the microwave.

"So has Tyler gotten anything from Issac yet?"

"Not really," Caroline shook her head, "Nothing important. But we _really_ need to right? I mean the Immortal is a doppelganger and anything we can find out about her would be useful."

"Mhm," she nodded, "though I get the feeling that Issac won't be sharing anything willingly."

"What makes you say that?"

"He's a hunter," Elena said as an explanation. From Connor to Vaughn hunters didn't really have a good reputation with them, "Maybe if we had something to hold against him… or something to trade for."

"Tyler thought so too. And he said he was working on it."

"Okay, good," Elena sat down across from her friend and sipped on her drink.

Issac had to know _something_. Hunters couldn't be running around the world trying to rid it of the Immortal if they didn't have some kind of information on her. Though now that Elena thought about it Issac had never given them a name. Always _the Immortal_. Did he even know about Irina? Or was that somehow exclusive knowledge? Even Vaughn and Connor had referred to Irina as Silas.

Elena shook her head. Right now she could only hope that he talked, because if he didn't they'd be back to being, as Damon put it, chickens with their heads cut off.

* * *

'_That bitch,_' was the first thought that came to Katherine once she deemed herself far enough away from any mind reading psychos. The bitch with her face, immortal and virtually invulnerable, and no doubt quickly placing herself onto Katherine's "to kill" list, right alongside Klaus.

Katherine shifted her daylight bracelet around her wrist.

After about a good quarter of an hour with Rosana the day before, Irina had come back to Katherine and gave the bracelet to her as she'd said. What she had failed to tell her until she was just about to leave that morning was that she had spelled it. A tracking spell. One that told Irina where her doppelganger was whenever she felt like it.

She walked out of the forest and crossed over someone's unfenced backyard, ignoring the looks she received from three twelve year olds at the pool.

"_Don't run, Katerina,"_ Irina had warned her, _"You run and I will find you and I _will_ kill you. Not one word of me to anyone. And most of all, remember, you have only until tonight."_

Only tonight. Why the hell hadn't she let her go the day before? She would've preferred the longer leash, so to speak, and maybe then she would have more time to find a way out of Mystic Falls in one relative piece. Though, to be fair, snatching Elena Gilbert wouldn't be too hard.

What Irina would do to Elena didn't concern her. She would gladly hand her doppelganger over for a chance to be left alone but Katherine had a feeling that Irina wouldn't do so.

She could do as she was told but that would be the same as lying down and giving up. And everyone knew that Katherine Pierce wasn't one to back down. As she'd told herself multiple times, she would find a way out of this. She just had to find the right opportunity and circumstances, though the current moment was definitely not the best time. She had a major disadvantage of not knowing anything, even the simple know hows of what supernatural events have happened. Meaning, what the Scooby gang of Mystic Falls had been up to, since everything supernatural in town revolve around them.

Katherine halted on the road and a lone car swerved to move out of her way. She turned towards it. The car stopped and a man hopped out of it with his face red. What perfect timing.

"What do you think you're doing, Ms. Gilbert?! I almost ran you over!" As he reached her she held his shoulder, forcing him to steadily meet her gaze.

"Forget what just happened, lend me your car," she said in a low voice, his pupils dilating with hers.

His shoulders relaxed and held her gaze. "You can borrow my car," he responded in a trance.

She tilted her head and added as an afterthought, "and your phone."

With a small nod he reached into his pocket and handed her his phone. She smiled. God, it felt so good to finally gain back some control. She gave him a once over before nodding her head to the side, "Come on, I still need you to drive."

"Okay."

Climbing into the passenger's seat she glanced around, seeing that there were no bystanders that could witness anything. Once the man sat back into the driver's seat he turned to her.

"Where to, Ms. Gilbert?"

She didn't bother correcting him as she narrowed her eyes, "What did you say was your name again?"

"Hugh Kenley."

"Hmm," she purred, her gaze flitting down. She licked her lips and slowly pulled his head down so she breathed into his ear, "We're going to the Grill, but before that…"

Katherine trailed off, her fangs surfacing as his blood pumped in her ears. She was beyond starving, and Mr. Hugh Kenley looked as good as any other person she could run into later. He tensed at her touch but before he could panic her grip on his neck hardened and her fangs sank deep.

* * *

Stefan sat on the top of the stairs leading to the basement. He placed the bag of blood he had been drinking from on one of the steps as he listened.

"_Is that all you've got? I thought with everything you'd at least want some kind of revenge."_

That was Issac. The hunter.

After waking up in a daze the day before Stefan had heard the commotion downstairs. He'd hesitated for a moment because of his confusion before he went down the stairs, but even when he got down he wasn't much help.

He'd woken up a couple hours ago from the vervaine.

He sighed, running a hand over his face. This entire mess. If he heard right and if Jeremy walking around was any indication, Bonnie Bennett was dead. Just as that… that Immortal had said. Besides the fact that they had no one to once again encase Irina in stone they had lost yet another friend. For a moment Stefan's eyes lowered, Elena had yet lost another person. Never would he have guess that Bonnie Bennett would… pass away.

Stefan sighed again.

He wanted to get rid of the Irina. For what she did to him and for whatever plan she had ahead of her. Because hoping that whatever it was wouldn't affect them would only be wishful thinking. He was already involved. And Elena too. Irina had pointed out her doppelgangers. The balance nature gave to her immortality.

She would need her doppelganger some way or another, wouldn't she?

Stefan shook his head and stood as Tyler headed out of the cell. One thing was for sure though, they couldn't do anything if they didn't know anything.

* * *

Katherine stepped into an almost empty Grill. Save one or two visible workers, there were about five customers loitering about. She licked her lips. After feeding off Hugh Kenley she had called one of her Mystic Falls contacts and arranged a meeting at the Grill. She had told her to come in five minutes but before then maybe Katherine could get a few things off of the people around the place. Matt Donovan maybe. Though he didn't seem to be in at the moment.

She made her way towards the bar, planning to sit and wait.

Just as she was about to reach the bar she noticed someone about to run into her and she side stepped, letting the man tumble into a stool and then steady himself.

"Elena?" he turned to her, a slight slur in his words, "W-what are you doing here?"

She raised a brow. Damon. What reason would he have to be so blatantly drunk before noon?

When she didn't respond he narrowed his eyes, "You're…," he took a deep sigh, "Katherine. Just… great, like everything isn't shit already. What are you doing here?"

"Hmm, Damon, drunk already?" her lips lifted in a small grin. She glanced at the clock on the wall and sat beside the Salvatore. Jane would come soon but a bit of small talk never hurt anybody. Maybe he could even tell her something useful, "Something tells me the reason why you're here is much more interesting."

He shook his head, dragging some words as he spoke, "I thought youu would know. I mean, you were a real bitch the last time we met. Maybe you could put that two together."

Her? A bitch? Katherine almost laughed at the common insult. She'd ask him to be more specific but she knew already that the last time they'd had a conversation was weeks ago.

"At the boarding house?" she asked in rhetorical confirmation. The time before saint Elena had decided the best way to live was to try and kill Katherine, "You never learn do you?"

She had told Damon that her little doppelganger would go right back to Stefan. Even if he hadn't made that jab about Elijah she would've gladly thrown that little fact at him. And judging by what he was saying and his current drunkenness, Elena had done just that. That was no surprise.

"Learn? I thought I was the first?"

"Damon, I think you know by now that Stefan is always the first choice," she said, pointedly.

"Stefan? What're you... going on about?" he looked at her and then leaned on the counter, placing a hand on his cheek and propping up his elbow.

Katherine frowned. She was talking about their last conversation. "What are you talking about?"

Damon rolled his eyes and didn't respond.

"Anything I can get you guys?" a bartender approached them from behind the bar, wiping his hands on a rag. Katherine ignored him but Damon raised his finger and then pointed down to the table as if there were something there, "Another."

The man nodded, apparently already knowing his drink. He quickly whipped it up and slid it over the table. Katherine's eyes followed the tumbler, half full of ice, and watched as an already drunk Damon took a sip. The bartender left and she wondered about Damon's consumption rate. He could die, couldn't he? If he took too much.

"Damon, you were saying?" Katherine asked, tilting her head and waited for him to answer her question.

"I'm human," he muttered, "Do you know what that's like?"

"Horrible, I presume."

"Exactly! And I've looked...," he trailed off, his face scrunching up as he suddenly turned to her with wide eyes.

"You've looked..?" she urged him, all the while glancing back to the clock on the wall. Jane was late.

"You know about the cure," Damon shook his head and he breathed in his words, "Help me."

He stated it instead of asked, and Katherine couldn't think of anything other than how drunk Damon must actually be. She paused, maybe he could tell her what was going on around there. Since her contact was nowhere to be found. Besides, he was definitely a better source than any third party who was just spying on their little group of friends.

"Okay," she agreed.

He gave her a look, having not expected her to offer any sort of help.

"I'll tell you what I know about the cure, but you have to help me too."

He pouted, and rolled his eyes in thought. "Okay, fine. Deal. What do you want?"

Katherine shrugged and positioned herself so that she faced him, "Information. What's been going on with the Scooby gang?"

Damon scoffed, "Wait, don't tell me you don't have your little spies running around anymore."

"Oh, they're still here. But why talk to the people looking through the window when I can speak directly to the one in the house?"

"Information on us… for information on the cure," he pursed his lips. "What's your angle here?"

"I'd ask you the same thing, but I think that's obvious."

Damon glowered, "Then I won't say anything."

"We had a deal."

"No deal, I back out."

"So you don't want to turn back?"

"What? Of course I do!"

"You've been looking around for answers and someone who knows more about it than you finally shows up. A week and a half, Damon. I'm sure not a lot happened in a week and a half."

He scowled at her and called the bartender over, refilling his drink.

Katherine scoffed and stood to get up. He really was stubborn as hell.

She was just about to walk away when Damon spoke.

"The veil was put back up, obviously. And little Bennett traded her life for the useless little Gilbert," Damon said offhandedly, taking another sip. Katherine rose her brows, turning back around. Little Bon Bon dead, and the brat alive and breathing? She sat. That was something she didn't expect. "Plus the whole Silas drama is still unresolved."

Damon leaned forward suddenly as he loudly whispered, "Did you know that Silas isn't a _guy_?" he seemed to be opening up, though when he spoke he sounded like he was talking more to himself than to her, "It's so unusual that it's not. I don't know why I didn't see it miles away."

"Uh huh," she nodded slowly. They knew about Irina and Katherine needed to determine if that would come to be in her favour or not. Maybe they could help each other where Irina was concerned.

'_Ha! With their track record someone will die before anything is resolved.'_

She quickly dropped that thought. That someone could be her and she would rather take her chances elsewhere or better yet, on her own.

"I mean, she stuffed Stefan in a safe and drowned him! Can you believe the nerve?" he rambled, "That's my brother. If someone's going to torture him, it'd be me. Now if I ever see that woman's face…," he trailed off.

Hold on: A safe? Stefan was stuck in a safe? Hadn't she seen Elena and her friends pulling someone out of a large black safe? But then again, hadn't that also only been a dream?

"You know what? Stefan said she looked like _you_," Damon's eyes widened at the last word, "a doppelganger."

He frowned deeply at her when she didn't say anything and then leaned over the counter and waved the bartender back. He pointed to his empty glass.

"What are you planning to do?" she asked as Damon downed a half of his drink. He shrugged dramatically, his attention going right back to the guy serving him drinks.

"Hey hey! Don't leave yet," he scowled and then repeatedly pointed to his glass. The guy glanced at Damon before rolling his eyes and grabbing the bottle of bourbon behind the counter.

"Damon," she said as he gulped his drink down and pointed for another. She rolled her eyes when he ignored her.

"Hey," Katherine held out her hand before the guy could pour again, "I think he's had enough."

"What? No!" Damon's forehead crinkled in disagreement. He picked up his tumbler and thrust it towards the guy, "Give me more! Don't listen to her. She's a lying, manipulative bitch trying to ruin what little fun I have left. Now _pour_!"

He widened his eyes, looking like he was trying to compel him.

Katherine looked over the guy, "What's your name?"

The bartender sighed, "Will."

"Will," she repeated, meeting his eyes, "be a good boy and serve your other guests. This little Salvatore has had enough."

"Little? Who are you calling _little_?" Damon exclaimed as Will left, "And that's unfair! You _can't_ do that."

"But I did," Katherine stood, pulling the tumbler from his hand and prompting him to get off the stool also, "You're going home. We can't have a conversation if you're too wasted to talk."

"No."

She took a deep breath. Oh she did not have the patience for this right now.

'_Why don't I just leave you here?' _she thought through gritted teeth. She glanced around, Jane was still not there.

"Damon," she began, "We had a deal. You want to know what I know about the cure, don't you?"

He stopped pouting for a moment, pointing to her face—her eyes, "Don't think that will work on me," he said but begrudgingly, he complied, getting to his feet.

Hugh's car was parked out front and pulling Damon along, they got in and she drove, heading towards the boarding house.

* * *

Tyler placed his hands on his knees as he leaned forward. Issac grinned with his teeth, blood staining his mouth.

"Is that all you've got?" the hunter spoke and Tyler shook his head, "I thought with everything you'd at least want some kind of revenge."

He laughed and the hybrid rolled his eyes.

"You know, you started this."

"What? You torturing me?"

"Yeah. This," Tyler pointed out, spreading one arm, "Washington, British Columbia, Ohio and even at the town over from here. What did I ever do to you, huh?"

Issac shrugged, "Your pack killed one of my friends."

"My pack? How many time do I have to tell you? I don't have a pack!" Tyler shook his head.

The hunter threw his head back in a laugh, "You're one of them. Trying to convince me otherwise isn't going to help you."

The hybrid frowned, "What are you talking about? One of who?"

Issac paused, his eyes narrowing as he analyzed Tyler's expression.

"Wait, hold up. Don't tell me you really don't know."

"No, I don't," a part of him felt as if he should've just been punching the guy again for not cooperating. He'd been there for a while now and his frustrations were starting to surface. Even though he'd gotten better at it, Tyler Lockwood never was known for his patience. "Just spit it out."

"That Alpha pack? Don't tell me you didn't know they were following you." At the young man's expression Issac began to laugh. Cut short when Tyler suddenly had him by the collar.

"What are you talking about? Following me? Who were they?"

Issac shook his head, "And here I thought I was following one of them. When really we were all just following you."

Tyler shook him but he didn't say anything else.

Irritated, he slammed him into the wall and headed out the door. An Alpha pack? What in the world was Issac going on about now? He turned back to the door and then sighed. They were following him, he said. What did that mean? Why would a pack of wolves be following him?

"Hey you okay?" Stefan came down the stairs to the basement.

Running a hand over his hair, Tyler nodded, "Yeah, yeah I'm good. He's just frustrating. Hasn't said a useful word."

Stefan nodded, understandingly, "Okay, why don't I try."

"Sure," Tyler shrugged, "Do you need a hand?"

He looked at the hybrid for a second before shrugging, "Why not. Come on."

"Reinforcements?" Issac voiced from the floor as they entered.

Tyler rolled his eyes.

"I'm Stefan," the vampire introduced himself, pulling out the seat Tyler had previously sat on. "I understand you have a job to do. As a hunter you, naturally, want to kill us," he pointed between him and the hybrid, "but I also understand you're looking for someone. Someone specific."

"The Immortal."

"I've heard. Now, I've met this Immortal."

"You've met him."

"Yes, I have met _him_. And in my humble opinion, I'd also love to get rid of that son of a bitch," Stefan said, blasé. Issac frowned at him and he continued, "You see, he stuffed me in a safe before pushing it into a ravine. You hunters have a mission don't you? To kill him? And seeing as you're here, stuck in this cellar, you're not doing a very good job."

"So what? I'm supposed to trust a group of vampires and wolves now?"

"No, but you're not the only one who wants this Immortal dead," Stefan spoke, his eyes boring into Issac who looked away with furrowed brows. The vampire continued, pushing for Issac to understand, to cooperate, "If you help us, we can definitely help you."

* * *

**A/N: **Okay, so guys check this tomorrow, I'll probably have the next chapter up by then. lol I'm excited, but I need to read it over.

And btw don't forget to review you beautiful ice cubes you


	10. Threads

**Chapter Ten: Threads **

**A/N:** Woot woot! We've gotten to chapter ten! Lol if you've been interested and have actually gotten this far without skipping anything (cuz im not gonna lie, ive done that before tooo) then heres a big fat hug from my nonexistent puppy!

Enjoy your read

* * *

"Who's car is this?"

Katherine glanced at Damon, "Who says it's not mine?"

He merely snorted in response.

"You were going to tell me about what you were planning? Do you even have a plan?" Katherine asked, steering the car the driveway of the boarding house.

Damon frowned deeply, "If I did, you really _really_ think I would tell you?"

No, he wouldn't, but she was counting on the alcohol to help let him slip up about something. They got out and headed to the door. Maybe they knew how to kill Irina.

"Oh," Damon suddenly jerked his arm from her grasp and stopped right before the door.

Katherine gave him a questioning look but took a step forward, only to be held back by an invisible force. She frowned, trying again, "Why can't I…?"

She trailed off, her eyes landing on Damon beside her who was now biting his lips and trying to suppress a laugh. What a sudden mood change. He looked childish.

"You can't get in," and he sounded childish.

"Very funny. Now invite me in."

He narrowed his eyes, his face donning a sudden sober expression, "No."

Damon stumbled into his home facing her, inevitably backing into the table in the foyer and smacking straight into the mirror on the wall.

"Damon!" she reached forward and was stopped in mid-air. She held her hands up in frustration. It'd been a really long while since she'd seen Damon so plastered. Though when she rolled her eyes most of it wasn't due to his drunkenness. Elena lived in the boarding house, like a safe house she couldn't penetrate, and how was she supposed to enter when the only person who could invite her in was smacking into walls instead?

She suddenly wondered if Irina had to be invited in, she wasn't exactly a vampire.

Damon groaned. He was on the floor and his hands were bleeding from the broken shards.

"Katherine," he frowned, "ugh, it hurts. I hate this. I hate being human."

"Do you need help?" she asked in an urging manner. If she could just compel her way in things would be much simpler.

He didn't say anything. Just sat, looking at his bleeding hands. Damon took so long that Katherine had to swallow back the smell of blood wafting into her senses. She shouldn't be so hungry, she just fed.

"Damon," she repeated, getting his attention.

"Come. Help me up, will you?" he reached out and Katherine stepped through. It seemed that had been enough to let her in. She held him by his forearm and pulled him to his feet.

"How come _you're _the one inviting people? I thought you and Stefan put Elena's name on the deed?"

Damon shrugged a bit longer than normal, "Beats me. I think we own the house no matter what. Like when Elena died it was ours again like before."

Katherine frowned. That didn't make any logical sense at all.

"We were talking about something?" she redirected, eager to get back on their other conversation.

"Damon, are you okay? I smell blo—" Elena stopped short at the bottom of the stairs, her eyes on Katherine, "You!"

"Me?" Katherine imitated.

Elena suddenly lunged towards her but Katherine was quicker and in one instant she stood at the foot of the stairs while her doppelganger turned around where Katherine had stood at the door.

Quickly, Elena broke off the foot of the table Damon had bumped into, dropping all the contents. With her makeshift stake she ran towards Katherine again. Instead of moving away, the elder doppelganger caught Elena's wrist, the stake just above the spot where her heart was.

Struggling against her strength Elena kicked at Katherine, distracting her enough to push the stake into skin.

Katherine grunted, using her free hand to dig her nails into Elena's shoulder, and crush her wrist with the other.

"Elena!"

Before Caroline could jump to the rescue Katherine sped them a few feet away, into the living room.

"ARGH!"

On her knees, Elena's arm was twisted behind her back as Katherine stood behind her.

"Don't even try, Caroline," she pulled, eliciting another cry from the younger girl at her feet, "but what I do need you to do is get her out of here before I do decide to kill her."

"Okay okay, just let her go," the blonde said hurriedly. Stepping forward when Katherine did just that. Taking her friend by the shoulder Caroline sped away, leaving with Elena.

"See? Classic bitch. Why would you do that?" Damon stepped from the foyer, catching most of what had gone on even with all the speed.

"Me? You may be a little too drunk or a little too human to see but she attacked me first."

Damon's face darkened at _human, _"You're lucky I'm not a vampire anymore. I would kill you."

Her brows knitted together before she laughed, "Is this before or after you profess your undying love for me?"

He made a face then, rolling his eyes as his attention shifted back to his bleeding hands. And then his gaze lifted, landing onto one of the tables behind the couches. He moved towards his alcohol cabinet and quickly she blocked him.

"What is it with you? No more drinks," she emphasized, "Now was there anything you left out?"

He shook his head and her eyes narrowed. What had Irina told her before she left? Don't tell anyone… no, not that one.

"She said there was a hunter here?" she concluded, "What's happened with him?"

Had they even met the guy?

"Oh, he's downstairs, all chained up," Damon shrugged, and then suddenly donned that sober look once more, "Wait, she said? Who's she?"

She? Katherine blinked, she hadn't said anything had she? Looking through her lashes she held his arm, her fingers trailing down, "Enough talk. Why don't we get you upstairs?"

He pulled off her hand, "Hold on. We had uh… a deal. What do you know about the cure?"

"Nothing," she said simply.

"What?"

"Nothing really. I just know what you probably already know. It was created two thousand years ago for Silas and it turns supernatural beings human," she frowned, they probably didn't know this but "it's also not just for vampires."

"You lied! We had a deal!" Damon advanced towards her and she held up a hand, stopping him.

"No, I said I'd tell you what I knew about the cure, Damon," Katherine shook her head, "I never promised you any new information."

He raised a finger pointedly, his already red face turning brighter, "You lying, manipulative bitch! I don't know why I ever trusted you!"

Katherine almost rolled her eyes. He had way too much to drink. It was one deal. He knew better than to trust her. He knew how she was.

Damon turned around, about to storm off when she grabbed his arm. He jerked it away.

"Wait," she said and then sighed. He stopped, placing a hand on the couch to steady himself, though he didn't turn around, "I got to Ir—Silas' island hours before you."

They had made a deal, and a hunter in the basement and an invitation to the Salvatore's "fortress of solitude" was a nice enough trade.

"And I didn't have the help of some run down professor. I know someone. I didn't have time to look through everything but this witch I know in Michigan has a library of ancient books."

He turned his head, listening.

"I don't know if there's anything on the cure but that's how I found the island," she said with a small mental roll of her eyes, "but that's all I know."

"Where is it?"

"Detroit."

He turned his head to look at her and she shrugged, "The witch's name is Jasmine Rivers."

"Rivers?"

"You know them?" she tilted her head, curious.

He shook his head though his eyes said otherwise and without another word he walking away with seemingly steady steps.

When he was gone Katherine listened into the house. There was Damon, making his way up the stairs and then three people downstairs. She made her way towards the basement listening in. If whoever was in there with the hunter didn't leave soon then she wouldn't get the chance to talk to him. Quietly at least. She didn't know if Irina would somehow find out but the stealthier way was always better.

"_Hey, you okay?" _she heard Stefan say and then received a reply from Tyler.

Since when did the Lockwood boy get back to town?

At that thought her mind quickly went back to her dream. Amidst waking up on the Ridge of Elistear and running away from Irina she hadn't thought much of the dream she had just before waking up. Stefan actually had been found in a safe and Tyler Lockwood who had been with them was in town. Would she be crazy to think that what she saw actually happened?

Katherine stepped back in thought. She couldn't go downstairs any time soon, and like it or not she still had to get Elena for Irina.

Rolling her eyes, she let out a deep breath.

* * *

"Are you okay now?" Caroline asked and Elena sighed deeply. After pulling her out of the boarding house, Caroline had given Elena a second to sit at the park before they headed off to the Grill. Right then, they sat outside on one of the tables, a plate of food in between them.

"If you're asking if I've calmed down then yes Caroline, I have," she said, dipping a fry into some ketchup, "but if it's about Katherine being at the boarding house then no. Why is she even still here?"

"I don't know, Elena. But as much as I'd like to join you, you can't kill her."

Elena let out another deep breath, "I know."

Plotting a vendetta against her doppelganger had driven her emotionless self to do things she never would have done and she didn't want to go back there again. As angry as she was in the end it wasn't worth it. And besides, right then there were much bigger things to worry about, "I just… she tried to kill me during grad. And with everything going on I don't want to have to deal with her too."

Because whatever reasons Katherine had for lingering in Mystic Falls couldn't be any good.

"Maybe she knows something."

"What are you talking about, Care?"

"Do you think she knows about… you know, the original doppelganger?" the blonde whispered _original _and _doppelganger_ as if it were a secret, which it kind of was.

She shook her head, "I don't know."

And quite honestly, she would rather not ask.

"Ugh, I'm beat!" Matt came towards their table, sitting on the chair between them and placing his head on the table.

"Hey, watch the food," Caroline snatched the ketchup away before Matt's hair could dunk itself in it.

Elena chuckled, "What's with you? Long shift?"

"The longest," Matt sat up and rubbed his palms over his eyes, "Zach is getting me to work extra hours to make up for when I leave with Rebekah. It's exhausting, but I really need the money."

_With Rebekah._ Elena glanced up to meet Caroline's eyes. And though they both encouraged Matt to go, a part of Elena still couldn't believe how she was rationalizing just letting one of her human best friends go to unknown places with an Original. One that she personally didn't have a good relationship with, and one that she particularly didn't trust. And not just because she had killed Elena and ultimately, turned her into a vampire.

"So," Caroline looked just as uneasy at the thought, "when are you leaving?"

"On the fifth," the blonde boy dropped his hands and scanned his two best friends. Elena raised a brow at the way he was looking at her and then he turned his gaze to Caroline, "Guys, I know you don't trust Rebekah. I didn't either, but after the wrecking yard…"

"You do?" Caroline finished for him.

"Yeah… er well, at least enough to know I'll be safe," he said with a sigh. From what Caroline and Matt had told her about grad, Rebekah had died protecting Matt. A good sign though it didn't erase anything the blonde Original had done in the past to her and to all her friends.

"I uh… I better head back. It's not even my break really," Matt stood, one hand twisting the Gilbert ring off his finger. He handed it to a baffled Elena, "Here. I only borrowed it to help you turn back your emotions."

"No, Matt, you might need it," she argued, trying to hand it back to him. Who knew what he'd run into out there?

He shook his head, "It's not mine to have. Besides, no offense but I'd rather not rely on supernatural rings to keep me alive. I mean that's Alaric's, right?"

The same one that had driven their former teacher insane? Yes, and Elena understood. Matt didn't want to ever take the chance into turning into what it turned Alaric into. An evil alter ego that got him killed. Elena bit her lips, maybe this was a discussion worth having with Jeremy too.

She nodded an okay as Matt headed back into the Grill.

When he was gone Caroline spoke, "I still can't believe he's going to travel the world. I mean _I _want to travel the world. Why can't some supernatural being sweep _me_ off my feet and take me places?"

Elena laughed, "Maybe it's because you are a "supernatural being" yourself? And you know what, why don't you just ask Tyler?"

"Be_cause_, Elena, that would defeat the whole purpose of "sweeping me off my feet" in the first place."

The brunette laughed again, "Whatever you say, Care."

Caroline furrowed her brows, "What are you saying?"

"Well how is Tyler supposed to know you want to be swept off your feet if you don't tell him?"

"He just should! It's an instinct," she explained.

Elena raised her brows with a smile and a nod. Of course Caroline would think so, though Elena didn't doubt that sooner or later Tyler would just take Caroline and go see the world. In fact, the notion felt teasing enough that Elena wouldn't mind getting away from Mystic Falls either. Home wasn't exactly feeling like home lately.

A deputy car stopped on the curb next to their table and Sherriff Forbes greeted them as she got out of the car, "Caroline, Elena, how're you both?"

"I'm good, Sherriff," Elena responded.

"Hi, mom. What's up?"

"Nothing much," she said, glancing around them. Both Caroline and Elena shared a look, "Excuse me, Elena, but I need to speak with Caroline."

"Um, oh yeah sure," Elena nodded. "I'll just… I'll go back to the boarding house. See you back there, Care?"

"Yeah," Caroline nodded but she also gave her a pointed look that spoke volumes. Don't do anything stupid, like attacking Katherine again. Elena nodded her response.

Leaving mother and daughter together Elena walked away. She and Caroline had walked to the Grill and walking back was her only option. Her stomach growled. She was hungry and this time not for fries. Licking her lips Elena headed to the woods. She wasn't going to look for animals, or anybody living, there was a shortcut. And with some speed she got to the boarding house in record time.

Before she went in she hoped that Katherine had left. She didn't want to see her again. At all. Though what Caroline had said ran over her thoughts. Did Katherine know something? Is that why she was there? But even if she were Elena doubted that her doppelganger came to help them.

Elena made her way up the steps of the back porch and pulled open the door.

Katherine turned around just as the door shut behind Elena.

For a moment they stared each other down; Elena glaring at her face while Katherine's eye flitted down before coming back up.

"It seems your temper tantrum has run its course," Katherine spoke.

Elena rolled her eyes, making her way towards her so the she could get out of the room.

"Good. Though I was hoping to have an excuse just to get rid of you."

"Shut up, Katherine," Elena began, already fed up. "No one wants you here and no one cares about you. Just get out. You're not welcome."

"Ouch," Katherine feigned, placing a hand over her chest, "Who knew you could be such a bitch?"

"A bitch? You deserve to burn in hell! I don't like you and I'm not going to pretend that I do."

Katherine chuckled, her eyes glancing around, as if she was listening.

"What are you doing?" Elena questioned, suddenly getting an odd feeling.

Her doppelganger grinned, "You know what? Forget that hunter. I don't want to wait."

In one swift motion Katherine had Elena by the neck, her fingers squeezing her throat shut. Elena struggled, kicking and digging her nails into her ancestor's wrist but to no avail.

"This is a good a time as any," she heard Katherine mutter.

Choking from the lack of air Elena barely noticed when she kicked a lamp crashing to the floor. Hand still around her neck, Katherine whisked them away through the back door.

* * *

Damon jerked awake, his eyes squinting as the light threatened to burn his pupils.

"Ugh," he groaned, shutting them as he held his head. _'Oh, my head. What the hell?'_

Pulling a pillow over him he turned, pulling it up so that he could breathe. That's right, he had gotten drunk. So drunk that—he pulled off the pillow, briefly glancing around—that he had no idea how he got to his room. Hadn't he headed to the Grill? Since when did he get home?

He massaged the back of his head, remembering glimpses of Elena… no, Katherine, who brought him home. And who—he sighed, "Great."

He had been complaining to her about being human like a baby who just had his candy stolen from him. He rolled his eyes, yet another thing she could hold over him. As if the first time when he told her and she laughed and left him in the woods wasn't frustrating enough.

Damon rubbed his eyes, and after a few moments sat up. He went straight to his curtains, pulling them close.

Nice day for a hangover. He shook his head, tempted to just lie back down and sleep it off.

His eyes found the grandfather clock in his room. It read, 3:47 PM.

He had left the house early morning to try and get drunk, brushing off the fact that the hunter was chained up in their basement and Stefan and Fido would need help questioning the guy. They'd had more than a couple hours, maybe he already said something.

Something lurched in his stomach and Damon placed his hand just below his ribs, running right into his bathroom. He found his toilet before the contents in his stomach spewed out.

"Ugh," he wiped his mouth. Now he was _really_ tempted to just sleep it all off.

He sat with his back on the wall. It was cold and it felt good. He rolled his eyes again, trying not to think about the fact that this was yet another reason why he hated the cure. Rinsing off his mouth and finding a pair of sunglasses, in case he had to go out, Damon left his room. He was slowly heading down the stairs when he heard the sound of glass smashing onto the floor in the study.

When he got there Stefan turned to him, puzzled.

"Having a tantrum?" Damon asked with a small grin.

Stefan's brows furrowed, "No, I… the lamp fell," he shook his head, "Where have you been all day?"

"Around," Damon shrugged, "Why? Has that hunter said anything?"

"Uh, yeah actually, that's why I came up. He's about to tell us something," his brother jerked his head, "Come on."

Following the younger Salvatore to the basement, they made their way into the cell. When Damon entered he was surprised to find that not only was Issac only sporting minor bruises but he was also unchained and sitting comfortably on a chair.

"Whoa whoa whoa, why is Myth Buster here not tied up?" he turned to his brother for an answer.

"We've come to an agreement," Stefan said.

"A truce," Tyler explained, "Sort of."

"What? This guy attacked us! He would kill us if he had the chance! He broke my arm!"

Issac chuckled in his seat, "And it seems you have that fixed. Now stop your whining, because you're about to learn a few things."

"We're helping each other, Damon. We all have the same goal."

Damon turned to his brother, shaking head. Though he didn't say another word.

"Great, now that that's over. I'm sure you all know that we hunters have been searching for the Immortal, and the cure that comes with him," Issac began, leaning on one arm of his chair, "It is written that the cure is only one dose, and seeing as you've all said that its long gone, that is one way to kill him that's gone down the drain."

"So there _is_ another way?" Stefan asked, leaning forward.

"There are but two ways to kill the Immortal."

* * *

Katherine held Elena by her arm, dragging her through the forest to where Irina had instructed her to go.

After figuring out that screaming would not magically produce any sort of help, Elena reduced herself to struggling. There were a few times Katherine wanted nothing more than to just knock her out cold but she couldn't do that.

As they made their way over a fallen tree Elena's nails dug deep into Katherine's arm, ripping skin and prompting the elder of the two to temporarily let go. When Elena disappeared through the trees Katherine rolled her eyes and sighed in exasperation. Did her doppelganger really think she could run?

Quickly, Katherine appeared in front of her, stopping Elena in her tracks.

"You do know you're running straight to where I'm supposed to take you."

Elena took a step back, about to run the other way when Katherine jumped forward, gripping her by the hair.

"She told me to keep you conscious. She never said anything about coming there in one piece."

"She?" Elena asked through gritted teeth.

Katherine raised her brows with a half sarcastic chuckle, "The one true Immortal."

Elena tensed and Katherine grinned, "Oh honey, she's worse than you think."

"Why are you doing this?"

Katherine sped them up the hill and onto the top. She shook her head, "I'll admit, if I had a choice, Mystic Falls would be long behind me."

She pushed her doppelganger to the ground, and Elena sat up eyeing her and then surveying her surroundings.

Katherine took a deep breath. Irina said she would know once she and Elena were there. They were to wait. And hopefully, not too long.

"_Before the Immortal was a true immortal, he was a warlock," Issac spoke, his eyes scanning his audience, "It was said that he wanted to live forever and therefore created a spell that could do just that."_

_Stefan nodded, "Absolute immortality."_

"_Yes, though nature had other plans. Nature requires balance."_

"And here I thought you would run," Irina said, stepping out from behind one of the outer taller stones.

Katherine shrugged, "You said you would show me what you did. I'm curious."

Irina chuckled but her eyes read something else. Her lips lifted, "Don't pretend as if you weren't trying to see the hunter."

Katherine blinked, she made it a point not to take a step back. How did she know?

Irina's eyes landed on Elena.

"Elena Gilbert," she greeted, and boldly stated, "You've heard of me."

"Irina," Elena stood, her eyes wide at yet another person who shared her features. She swallowed, looking every bit as if she were about to run.

"I would not recommend that," Irina said, her tone serious.

She looked to the sky briefly, mirroring the time she had first brought Katherine there and for the hundredth time Katherine wondered what the hell she really was doing.

"W-What do you want from me?" Elena stuttered slightly, lifting her chin.

Irina smiled as she pointed to the boulders in the middle, "I want you to stand over there."

"Why should I listen to you?" she asked, ever defiant.

"Because if you do not. I'll gladly kill everyone you love," Irina's smile never left her face, and Katherine shuddered.

Biting her lips Elena's eyes travelled from Irina to Katherine, and without further word she complied.

"You too," Irina nodded to Katherine, "stand opposite of her."

With furrowed brows, Katherine blinked though in the end she did as she was told.

"_Nature didn't just want some sacrifice, or some random person's life. It wanted _real _balance. Shadows of the immortal. Copies of him. Doppelgangers."_

_Subtly Tyler, Damon and Stefan shared looks. Doppelgangers. _

"_Weaknesses. And speaking for anyone with power, weaknesses aren't exactly something you'd want, right?"_

"_So what?" Damon voiced, "The Immortal is planning on gathering them and killing them, is that it?"_

"Speaking of hunters. Did you know that my beloved friend Qetsiyah was the one to create the Brotherhood of Five?" Irina asked, informing them as she circled her doppelgangers, who stood over the middle boulder.

She pulled out a stake, holding it in her hand and stopping beside Katherine.

"It was a failsafe. Something to ensure her that even through time, if I decide never to take that cure, that they would find a way to kill me."

Katherine's eyes lifted, and she glanced at her predecessor from the corner of her eyes.

Irina sighed, holding out the stake so that Katherine could take it.

"What was it that I promised you before you left?"

Katherine's fingers curled around the stake, "I'd get to kill Elena Gilbert."

Her eyes met her doppelganger's who took a step back and swallowed the lump in her throat but other than that she didn't move.

Reaching over so that she held Katherine's hand, Irina angled the stake, her breath whispering into her ear, "I lied."

_Issac's frown turned into a sudden grin. One that didn't mask his amusement. He laughed, pushing his head back and Damon rolled his eyes._

"_Okay, okay, I guessed wrong. Get on with it."_

"_Oh man, you guys may have met him but you have _no_ idea about anything."_

"_We're asking you," Stefan interjected._

_Issac shook his head, "You've heard of the Moirai, right? From ancient Greek? The incarnations of destiny. They had the powers to cut the metaphorical threads of life in order to end someone's life."_

_Stefan nodded but Damon shook his head, "Those hags from the Hercules cartoon? What does that have to do with this?"_

"_Because_, idiot_!" Issac spat out, "That's exactly what nature gave the Immortal in order to keep balance."_

_Stefan's eyes narrowed, it clicked together instantly and he muttered, "The doppelgangers… the threads?"_

"_Life lines," Issac nodded, smiling, "The second way to kill the Immortal. The _only_ other way besides the cure. He would never dream of killing them, in fact.."_

Katherine's heart leapt and she gasped. Wood met flesh, and unconsciously she held her breath as the stake was shoved in—into her heart. Eyes wide, her gaze found Elena's, who had covered her mouth in shock. Katherine's lips parted as she consciously breathed and she could feel an odd sensation crawling through her skin as it stiffened and hardened.

"No—" she breathed as grey veins crawled over olive skin.

"_..he'd be smart to protect them."_

Her head slowly fell forward as her eyes shut on their own.

And then for Katherine Pierce, everything was gone.

* * *

**A/N: **Sooo, I hope this chapter shed _some_ light. This is honestly my first real multi-chaptered fic and I hope nothing is confusing!

Thought sharing is much appreciated! And please, slap me if I'm being too damn vague or slow about anything so far! Really though, maybe its just me but i feels iffy


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